How High Will Oil Go?

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June 2009
- Dow Up 75 on Jobless Data
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jun 4, 09 3:11 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Markets edged up today on good unemployment claims and productivity data, the Wall Street Journal reports. But traders appear to be holding out for tomorrow’s employment report, and the rising price of oil continues to worry. “We have to hope it doesn't go to $80,” one trader said. “It was energy that definitely exacerbated things last summer.” The Dow was up 74.96 to 8,750.24. The S&P tacked on 10.70, ending at 942.26. And NASDAQ rose 24.10 to 1,850.02. More »
- US Oil Surplus Puts Dow Off 65
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jun 3, 09 3:12 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Reports of greater-than-expected US oil reserves sent crude prices and markets tumbling today, the Wall Street Journal notes. The manufacturing sector fell, and the Dow’s energy component was off 4.1%. “People are looking at the inventory report today as a really good chance to take some money off the table,” a broker said. The Dow was off 64.67 to 8,676.20. The S&P lost 12.92 to end at 931.82. And the Nasdaq shed 10.88 to 1,825.92. More »
May 2009
- Drugs, Oil Push Dow Up 50
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 12, 09 3:15 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Financials dipped today as firms continued stock sell-offs to finance TARP repayments, but strong performance by drug and energy companies stabilized the market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Merck and Pfizer were up as much as 2% and 6%, respectively; oil got a boost from $60 barrels. The Dow was up 50.34 to 8,469.11. The S&P fell 0.89 to 908.35 on bank concerns; the Nasdaq lost 15.32, ending at 1,715.92. More »
April 2009
- Chavez Rounding Up Top Political Foes
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 3, 09 7:36 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Venezuelan government arrested opposition figure Raúl Baduel yesterday, the second such move in recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports. Baduel, a former defense minister and ally of President Hugo Chavez, helped restore the president to power after a coup in 2002, but he helped rally opposition to his reelection in 2007. Last month, Chavez sought an arrest warrant for his 2006 opponent, Manuel Rosales, sending him into hiding. More »
March 2009
- With Oil Supplies Dropping, Look for Prices to Soar Again
  
  Wall Street Journal | Mar 27, 09 8:01 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A tough economy and falling prices have hit oil firms hard, forcing them to cut back capital spending and delay projects. So when demand again increases, supply could be short, the Wall Street Journal reports, driving prices back up. Slowing investment could hamper future supply growth by some 8 million barrels a day in the next few years, a new study says. More »
- Exxon, Chevron Scramble to Protect $40B Cash Booty
  
  Bloomberg | Mar 25, 09 11:22 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In times like these, everyone’s got problems. Exxon and Chevron? Finding safe places to stash $40 billion they stockpiled while oil prices were stratospheric last summer. “The biggest challenge we’ve had is making sure all the cash is there every morning,” Exxon’s CEO tells Bloomberg, adding of his treasurer, “I tell Don he has to count every dollar before he goes to bed.” More »
February 2009
- Consumer Prices Up 0.3% in January
  
  Associated Press | Feb 20, 09 9:07 AM CST
  
  (AP) - Consumer prices rose by 0.3% last month, the Labor Department said today, the biggest monthly increase since a 0.7% rise in July. Higher energy costs fueled the climb, and most economists and the government believe the recession will keep prices in check this year. That's because inflation has been flat over the past year, the lowest reading in more than a half-century. More »
- Oil Prices Plunge, Gas Not So Much
  
  USA Today | Feb 16, 09 6:33 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Gas is pumping toward $2 per gallon—a 22% increase since Dec. 30—even though oil prices have dipped 16% over the same period. What gives? When penny-pinched Americans cut back on fuel last fall, oil refineries were slow to ease production. Now they're overcompensating with production cuts to recover lost profit. The gallon should peak at $2.50 next month, analysts tell USA Today . More »
January 2009
- Exxon Breaks Own Profit Record With $45B Haul
  
  Associated Press | Jan 30, 09 8:13 AM CST
  
  (AP) - Buoyed by last year's spike in crude prices, Exxon Mobil Corp. today reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a US company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33% from a year ago. The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007. More »
- Stocks Fall as Bank Woes Trump Obama Hope
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 20, 09 9:03 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Any excitement on Wall Street about Barack Obama’s inauguration was drowned out this morning by worries over Europe’s banking sector, the Journal reports. The Dow dropped more than 110 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P dropped 2% and 2.2% respectively. Those tumbles track drops in Europe after the Royal Bank of Scotland warned of huge losses and the UK government readied a second bailout. More »
- Pickens, Facing Headwinds, Pushes Energy Plan in DC
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 13, 09 8:27 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Billionaire T. Boone Pickens is in Washington today to push lawmakers to breathe new life into his scheme for weaning America off foreign oil—which has suffered setbacks in recent months, the Wall Street Journal reports, not least of which are the energy and stock markets. A $100 decline in oil has stripped the “Pickens Plan” of urgency while private investment dollars dried up. More »
- Raise Gas Tax, But Reduce Payroll Tax
  
  Weekly Standard | Jan 9, 09 4:53 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Raising the tax on gasoline makes sense for all kinds for reasons, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Weekly Standard , but it amounts to political suicide. His solution? Jack up the gas tax by $1 but reduce the payroll tax by $14 a week. Consumers don't lose money, and the government doesn't gain any. "It is simply a transfer agent moving money from one activity (gasoline purchasing) to another (employment) with zero net revenue for the government.” More »
December 2008
- OPEC Prepares to Slash Output
  
  Reuters | Dec 17, 08 1:46 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - OPEC ministers are expected to back the biggest reduction in oil production in the history of the cartel when they meet today, Reuters reports. The exporters widely support a cut of 2 million barrels a day. Oil prices neared $43 per barrel yesterday, down over $100 from July. Officals from Saudi Arabia, which heads the cartel, are seeking action expected to boost prices to $75 a barrel. More »
- Errors Apparent: 2008's Worst Predictions
  
  Foreign Policy | Dec 13, 08 4:42 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Presidential candidate Bloomberg? Nope. Russia invading the Ukraine? Hardly. Foreign Policy takes a look back at the worst predictions of the year: A stabilized banking system: Shortly after Henry Paulson forecast stability on Wall Street, Citigroup’s stock price dropped 75% and closed below $5 for the first time since 1994. More »
- Not Yet Sworn In, and Already Flip-Flopping?
  
  Mother Jones | Dec 4, 08 8:26 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama vowed on the campaign trail to slap oil companies with a windfall tax, but, blogs Kevin Drum at Mother Jones, it might've all just been old-fashioned populist bluster that's led to Obama’s first breach of a campaign promise. The American Small Business League has noted, and decried, the proposal’s deletion from Obama’s transition website. But, says one economist, dramatically lower oil prices mean that it “makes sense” to junk the idea. More »
November 2008
- How Cheap Gas Hurts Green Initiatives, Feds' Bottom Line
  
  Wall Street Journal | Nov 24, 08 9:15 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Americans are driving less and burning less fuel, but it could be too soon for conservation fans to celebrate. That dip, and global economic gloom, has sent oil and gas prices spiraling down, Joseph White writes in the Wall Street Journal , depriving the government of taxes it needs for transportation infrastructure—and perhaps sapping consumers’ motivation to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. More »
- Cheaper Oil Likely to Stay Awhile
  
  Reason Magazine | Nov 18, 08 4:02 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Oil prices are down, and they’re likely to stay that way for now, writes Ronald Bailey for Reason . Not only did the recent spike in gas prices drive down demand in the US; it also heightened the effect of domestic and local production. Government mandates, made in response to the surge in oil prices, are likely to curb demand in the US for years. More »
- $100 Oil Will Return Soon Enough: Study
  
  Financial Times (UK) | Nov 6, 08 10:53 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - If today’s price of $60 per barrel of oil seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. Oil prices will rebound to $100 a barrel once the economy recovers, and climb toward $200 by 2030, the market’s most comprehensive review predicts. Output is declining at a steep natural rate of 9% while demand grows nearly unabated, the Financial Times explains. More »
October 2008
- PR Blitz Aside, Big Oil Drilled Consumers for Stockholders
  
  Los Angeles Times | Oct 28, 08 12:43 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Despite public-relations campaigns designed to make consumers think otherwise, big oil companies remain firmly tied to doing what’s best for their stockholders and bottom line, the Los Angeles Times reports. Though demand has outstripped production, companies spend more on stock buybacks than supply-boosting exploration. But, one analyst notes, “it's not their job to be doing things in the public's best interest.” More »
- OPEC Panics as Oil Plunges
  
  New York Times | Oct 22, 08 8:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Earlier this year the nations of OPEC were riding high as booming economic growth and tight supplies buoyed crude above $100. But now a barrel of oil is $70 and dropping fast, and frightened petroleum producers are holding an emergency meeting this week to discuss a production cut. As the New York Times reports, a global fall in demand could have major repercussions for nations that have profited from the black gold. More »