A post originally placed in our forum and moved here. I thought it would be interesting to relive what we were discussing mid-way through 2007. Oh how times have changed!
Bloomberg seems to think that $100 oil (not only BLoomberg BTW, a lot of people think…) will land come December this year. Is this probable? What are your thoughts, let’s open this can of worms.
Mike Moffat over at About.com doesn’t think so citing evidence in the futures and options market.
The only way oil hits $100 is if a hurricane destroys 10 refineries, US attacks Iran, or terrorists attack US. That’s the only way. Natural market pressures won’t send it to $100, but confidence issues may. We’ll see come December!
Re: [econmod] Crude Oil to Hit 100/barrel before 2008? [In reply to]
Actually, it depends on whether OPEC can increase their production for the high demand 4th quarter. Many people are now saying that it seems Saudi Arabia might have peaked, since their production was declining well before OPEC put in their quota at the end of last year and they’re down over 800,000 barrels/day, or almost 10%. The IEA has practically been begging OPEC to open the spigots, since they expect an increase in demand of 2.8mb/d by December, but OPEC has remained strangely steadfast, and won’t even think about an increase until September.
Meanwhile, crude closed Friday one cent shy of the record close, with no Nigerian hostages, no Iranian tensions and no terrorist attacks or hurricanes. It’s simply increasing demand against stagnant to declining supply.World oil production has declined slightly since May, 2005 according to EIA data. Here’s a chart:http://www.updebate.org/phpBB2/album_page.php?pic_id=91
Oh, $100/barrel going forward is a certainty. At some point in the near future we’ll all be saying “Remember the good old days when oil was just $100/barrel and gas was under $4/gallon?”/
(This post was edited by joewp on Aug 1, 2007, 10:38 PM)
joewp
TellerJul 28, 2007, 10:15 PM
Post #2 of 7 (2907 views)
Re: [joewp] Crude Oil to Hit 100/barrel before 2008? [In reply to] Can’t Post
Blah blah blah, peak this peak that. Fact is we’ll see 100 oil, sure, that’s just scarcity. Will we see it before 2008? I highly doubt that. Plus, OPEC HAS the oil, they just don’t want to lift it. Plain and simple, the cartel refuses to increases supply. Not that we have the production capacity to support it.
econmod
Broker / Moderator
Jul 31, 2007, 9:53 AM
Post #3 of 7 (2863 views)
Re: [econmod] Crude Oil to Hit 100/barrel before 2008? [In reply to] Can’t Post
In Reply To
Blah blah blah, peak this peak that. Fact is we’ll see 100 oil, sure, that’s just scarcity. Will we see it before 2008? I highly doubt that. Plus, OPEC HAS the oil, they just don’t want to lift it. Plain and simple, the cartel refuses to increases supply. Not that we have the production capacity to support it.
Ah yes, the reasoned, rational response to uncomfortable facts. I guess my chart touched a nerve, huh?
Saudi Arabia, the 800 lb. gorilla of OPEC, started seeing a production decline in April, 2006, a good 6 months before OPEC’s official cuts in November. Many people think those cuts were cover for KSA’a natural depletion. Many people think Gwahar’s production is crashing as is Cantarell in Mexico and Burgan in Kuwait. The North Sea is down 15% and Alaska is down 12.5% over last year. This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around. This is when nature meets economics, and it’s not going to be pretty.
Oh, this song and dance they’re doing about “refinery capacity” is more BS. In reality, the problems with refineries breaking down is that they’re trying to process heavier crude oil, which needs higher temperatures and more pressure in the vessels. Of course, this causes leaks, fires and blowouts and “unscheduled maintenance”.
And I hear there’s a tropical wave off South America known as Invest 99L, which could spin up into a hurricane in a few days. That should be interesting…