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$200 Oil on Horizon: Economists

Decreasing supply will mean increasing prices

By Dustin Lushing, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 3, 2008 3:13 PM CST

(Newser) – The price of oil could surge to $150 in five years and $200 in 10 years, a prominent German economic institute reports. "Oil supplies are becoming increasingly scarce and that will continue to drive up prices," said one energy expert. Oil prices hit $100 yesterday for the first time, and continue to hover near the triple-digit mark in today's trading.

Oil prices soared 57% in 2007 due to a weak dollar, worries about oil reserves and global conflict. With rampant speculative buying and the US Energy Information Administration expected to announce the seventh consecutive drop in crude inventories, the price is likely to reach $105 in the coming weeks, says a researcher at the DIW German Institute for Economic Research.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

Gas prices are seen along with the skyline in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008. Oil prices soared to US$100 a barrel Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 for the first time ever, reaching that milestone amid... (Associated Press)

A passenger ferry crosses Halifax harbor through Arctic sea smoke in front of Imperial Oil's Dartmouth refinery on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 in Halifax, N.S. As the price of crude oil hovers around the... (Associated Press)

A crude oil trader reacts to the release of an Energy Department report on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. One day after oil prices briefly rose to $100 for the... (Associated Press)

Specialist Ned Zelles works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange just before the closing bell Wednesday Jan. 2, 2008. Wall Street skidded lower Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected... (Associated Press)

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$200 Oil on Horizon: Economists