Oil Expected to Stay Above $100 This Year

But OPEC blames speculators and credit crisis for high prices

(NEWSER) - A hastily organized summit meeting in Saudi Arabia today offered little relief to oil consumers, Bloomberg reports. The Saudis did vow to increase production if needed, but OPEC blamed speculators and the credit crisis, not markets, for surging oil prices. "Saudi Arabia is prepared and willing to produce additional barrels of crude above and beyond the 9.7 million barrels per day," a Saudi minister said. More»

US inventory drops, and OPEC production boost won't cover shortfall

(NEWSER) - Crude oil hit nearly $80 a barrel today—its highest price ever—thanks to dwindling supply. US inventories fell by 7M barrels last week, much more than the 2.7M analysts predicted. OPEC announced a production increase of only 500K barrels, which Bloomberg reports will not meet seasonal demand increases. Storms in the Gulf of Mexico also contributed to rising prices. More»

But he just loves this country too much not to

(NEWSER) - Donald Trump was quite the braggart on CNN’s State of the Union today. Highlights from Politico:

• Trump is better than Romney: “Mitt Romney is a basically small-business guy, if you really think about it,” Trump said , adding that he is “much bigger than this man and have a much, much bigger net worth. I mean my net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney.”
• And his company is, too: “I've built a great company. And one of the beauties of, frankly, if and when I announce, some time prior to June, you will see how big my company is, because it's much bigger and much more powerful and much stronger than anyone really knows.”

(NEWSER) - Oil approached $41 a barrel today after OPEC said it would cut its output if necessary to stabilize prices, Reuters reports. “I think we still need more action,” OPEC’s secretary-general said, promising the cuts would be more thorough than many expected, with 80% compliance among the 12-member group. More»

(NEWSER) - OPEC has approved a cut in output of 2.2 million barrels of crude a day, the largest reduction ever, MSNBC reports. The consortium believes that stabilizing prices now by decreasing supply will guard against a price spike when consumer confidence increases. OPEC’s monthly report predicts that demand will have fallen 700,000 barrels in 2008, and will decline by twice that amount in 2009. More»