POST YOUR OIL NEWS, Clips here


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25/01/08

BANGKOK, Thailand - Oil futures rose Friday in Asia to extend a gain of more than $2 a barrel after U.S. leaders agreed to a stimulus plan in an effort to avert a major slowdown in the world's largest economy.

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Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 39 cents to $89.80 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract gained $2.42 to settle at $89.41 a barrel in the floor session.

Prices were also boosted Thursday after the U.S. government reported a drop in heating oil supplies.

Are We 'Running Out!
The link below is to a very interesting article.

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

It is VERY long so won't cut paste any sections.
On initial reading, it appears to be a scare mongering article, and if you believe just half of it, you will probably go to the nearest cliff and jump of. But there are many obvious truths that can't be ignored, and it is worth wading through.
Several of these obvious truths are that the more drastic the shortages become the more governments will encourage exploration/production. There will be very generous tax breaks, grants and as many incentives as they can think of to make sure any last vestige of oil is removed from the ground at virtually any price.
Just reading a few sections made me think that the next 3 to 5 years could be the most profitable for oil exploration/drilling companies and their partners ever.

Be interesting to see what others think.

Friday January 25 2008

appeared in the Guardian on Friday January 25 2008 on p34 of the Financial section. It was last updated at 23:55 on January 24 2008. Regal Petroleum has been referred to a London Stock Exchange disciplinary committee after allegedly breaking the rules over the disclosure of price sensitive information regarding wells drilled in the Aegean sea. The small exploration and production company, which has been dogged by controversy over the last eight years, said it "understood" that the case against it related to rules 10 and 11 of the code covering the Alternative Investment Market.

"Regal has been notified by the London Stock Exchange that following an investigation it intends to refer a case regarding alleged breaches by Regal of the Aim rules to the Aim disciplinary committee," it said in a statement. A spokesman for the firm declined to give any other details saying "we are not allowed to comment further".

Regal caused concern five years ago when two much hyped exploration wells, Kallirachi 1 and 2, were found to contain mainly water rather than oil or gas. The share price collapsed overnight and fed into wider investor worries about a host of small speculative stocks on the junior stock market whose values were inflated by unreal expectations.

Regal, then led by founder Frank Timis, desperately tried to put in place a range of management changes but these too were dogged with trouble as various directors came and went, with at least one resigning days after being appointed.

The company's capacity to walk into trouble continued as recently as November when it announced that Shell was going to buy a 51% stake in its Ukrainian assets only for the deal to collapse 48 hours later. The money was going to be used to develop the Svyrydivske and Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska fields in Ukraine and yesterday Regal announced a successful 84m share placing as replacement funding. Timis did not take part in the cash-raising and his stake in the company has been reduced from 20% to around 15%.

Oil Falls on Concern Economy May Slow; OPEC May Maintain Output

By Nesa Subrahmaniyan

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell for a second day in New York on concern that a recession in the U.S. may curb fuel demand in the world's biggest energy-consuming nation and prompt OPEC to maintain production targets.

Oil fell 1.2 percent, extending yesterday's 3 percent decline, after a report showed the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits for the first time jumped to a 27-month high. Increasing world oil supplies will do little to help the global economy, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said before a meeting of the producer group in Vienna today.

``There's no compelling case for OPEC to increase production because their analysis shows that markets are adequately supplied,'' David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said by telephone from Sydney today. Concern about a U.S. recession ``adds further uncertainty to the outlook for demand.''

Crude oil for March delivery fell as much as $1.11, or 1.2 percent, to $90.64 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was trading at $90.91 a barrel at 2:06 p.m. in Singapore.

The contract fell as low as $89.58 after the U.S. jobless claims report yesterday and settled 58 cents, or 0.6 percent, lower at $91.75 a barrel.

Oil prices gained the preceding five sessions after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates twice in two weeks to bolster confidence in financial markets and shore sliding U.S. equities.

``The Fed is acting very aggressively, but there's concern that they won't be successful,'' Rick Mueller, director of oil practice at Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Wakefield, Massachusetts, said yesterday.

OPEC Quotas

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produces more than 40 percent of the world's oil. World inventories are ``good'' and prices include a $30 speculative premium for politics and the weak U.S. dollar, Khelil said. A change to the group's quotas today is unlikely.

OPEC ministers from Venezuela, Libya and Qatar said the group will rebuff a request from U.S. President George W. Bush for more oil. The leaders will delay until March deliberations on a supply cut to bolster prices, which have slipped 8 percent from a record $100.09 a barrel on Jan. 3.

``A cut is not on the cards,'' he said. ``Psychologically, it's not going to help the world economy.''

Brent crude for March settlement traded 68 cents, or 0.7 percent, lower at $91.53 a barrel at 12:59 p.m. Singapore time. The contract dropped 32 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $92.21 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange yesterday.

``Right now, everybody is focused on the macroeconomic picture,'' said Jonathan Benjamin, senior analyst at New Wave Energy LLC in Aptos, California. ``Are we going into a recession? Are we going to be using less oil this year because we're going to be producing less?''

U.S. Stockpiles

While U.S. oil stockpiles are ``relatively low compared with last year'' gasoline inventories are rising and fuel demand appears to be slowing, Benjamin said. Oil will likely trade between $90 and $92 near-term as traders and investors try to gauge the direction of the U.S. economy, he said.

U.S. gasoline demand fell to 8.94 million barrels a day last week, based on deliveries by refiners, the Energy Department reported Jan. 30. It was the lowest in two years.

Crude-oil inventories rose 3.56 million barrels to 293 million barrels, taking their three-week gain to 3.6 percent. Gasoline stockpiles rose 3.56 million barrels to 223.9 million barrels, the highest since Feb. 9.

``The possibility of a recession has speculators on edge,'' James Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois, said yesterday. ``We're already recording a drop in gasoline demand growth, and now we could see a drop in fuel demand from the industrial and manufacturing sectors.''

SINGAPORE - Oil prices fell Friday despite expectations that OPEC would decide to maintain its production levels, as worries of a possible U.S. recession weighed on crude futures.

The economic concerns were renewed after the U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending rose in December by 0.2 percent, the weakest performance since June.

Claims for unemployment benefits in the United States jumped by 69,000 last week, the Labor Department said, more than three times what economists expected.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery lost 72 cents to $91.03 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore.

The contract fell 58 cents to settle at $91.75 a barrel on Thursday.

OPEC oil ministers suggested Thursday that they will keep production at present levels because of fears that soft economies around the world will translate into weakened demand.

Friday's special meeting was set in December after prices flirted with the $100-a-barrel level to give the 13-nation organization a chance to step in and increase output in case volatile markets needed calming.

Voicing the general sentiment, Qatar's Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said OPEC should leave overall quotas as they are. And looking ahead to the next meeting, in March, he said "all the possibilities are there" shorthand for a possible cut in production, if the U.S. economy weakens enough to cut into demand.

Through Wednesday, oil prices had risen $5.34 a barrel, or 6.1 percent, over five trading days on optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate cuts and an economic stimulus package working its way through Congress will stave off a serious downturn. But many investors doubt the plans will work.

The U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday the country's crude oil and gasoline inventories jumped more than expected last week. Gasoline inventories are at their highest levels in nearly two years, analysts said.

Heating oil futures fell 1.93 cents to $2.5098 a gallon while gasoline prices dropped 1.22 cents to $2.345 a gallon.

Natural gas futures declined 6.4 cents to $8.01 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude futures dropped 64 cents to $91.57 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

04/02/2008
Oil prices rise but demand concerns remain
4 hours ago

LONDON (AFP) Crude oil prices climbed on Monday, partly overcoming heavy recent losses on fears of a US recession that would dampen demand for energy.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, won 29 cents to 89.25 dollars per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for March delivery rallied 54 cents to 89.98 dollars.

Oil prices had dropped earlier Monday, extending heavy pre-weekend losses, "as persistent fears over a possible US led global slowdown fuelled further profit taking," Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar said.

Oil futures had lost almost three dollars in New York on Friday, after a shock drop in US employment renewed concerns of a dramatic slowdown in the world's biggest energy consumer.

Markets were rattled Friday by a US government report showing the economy had lost 17,000 nonfarm jobs in January.

It was the first jobs loss in more than four years and indicated that strains from a housing crisis and a related credit crunch were spreading through the world's biggest economy.

Also on Friday the oil cartel OPEC decided to maintain its output quota, ignoring a plea by US President George W. Bush for an increase in production to help reduce high oil prices that stunt economic growth and fuel inflation.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps 40 percent of world oil, held its official daily output at 29.67 million crude barrels at a meeting in Vienna.

Explaining its decision, the 13-nation cartel said stockpiles of crude were likely to increase in the first half of this year. The group also noted "the projected economic slowdown."

Ministers from OPEC are to meet again on March 5.

Since striking a high above 100 dollars at the start of the year, New York oil prices have weakened owing to fears of a US recession and a global economic slowdown.

But crude futures are still almost double the level of a year ago.

The United States had said Friday that it would continue to urge OPEC to increase output, even though prices have cooled significantly since New York crude hit an historic 100.09 dollars a barrel on January 4.

"OPEC's decision to leave production unchanged on Friday served as a reminder of its willingness to keep the oil market tightly balanced," said Barclays Capital commodities analyst Kevin Norrish.

A note of caution from Bloomberg:
"In the near term it looks like the move to the downside (Brent Crude) is exhausted,'' said Nauman Barakat, senior vice president of global energy futures at Macquarie Futures USA Inc. in New York. `Yesterday (6th feb) we had bearish statistics and were unable to break through the recent lows.''

Stockpiles rose 7.05 million barrels to 300 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 1, an Energy Department report showed yesterday.

"The market fundamentals are deteriorating daily,'' said Michael Fitzpatrick, vice president for energy risk management at MF Global Ltd. in New York. There are going to be bouts of short-covering but the move lower looks inevitable.''

Associated Press 02.08.08, 3:34 PM ET

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/02/08/ap4634197.html


Prices also rose on news that North Sea oil production was cut by 280,000 barrels a day because of technical problems at a Total SA oil field, and that Russian crude output could fall this year with the depletion of a large oil field.

Possible another spike up to $100 barrel then, it doesn't take much now to put the price up!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i5TtajgUpSm7KY5jf-lCJGHBB-tAD8UOTT1O0

What would this do to the price?
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=40396
cyril

Tax hits North Sea competitivenessFiled from Aberdeen
2/26/2008 3:05:37 PM GMT

UK: The North Sea is becoming less competitive in global terms as the tax man eats away at increased investment, Oil & Gas UK said today. The representative body's 2007 Activity Survey showed investment continued strongly with US$24 billion spent on exploring, developing and extracting the oil and gas reserves.



In turn though, cost inflation of 15 to 20 percent a year reduced the efficiency of such sums to the leve that the North Sea now yields a return on investment which is just a third of what it was five years ago.



Investment in developing new oil and gas reserves dropped by around US$2 billion to US$9.8 billion in 2007.



Operating existing assets also continued to get more expensive in 2007. The new report shows operating expenditure rose by US$1 billion in 2007 to US$12.4 billion and is expected to rise further to around US$13 billion in 2008.



Oil & Gas UK's Economics Director Mike Tholen said, "The survey does, however, show that there are significant opportunities to sustain investment of 29 billion (US$58 billion) over the next ten years."



Fifteen more fields are expected to start up in 2008 and overall production is expected to decline at only four percent a year until the end of the decade.



While exploration and appraisal drilling activity rose in 2007 from 70 wells to 111 wells, the increase was largely accounted for by appraisal drilling instigated by the need to reduce technical and commercial risks in such a high cost environment.



Oil & Gas UK Chief Executive Malcolm Webb said, "Over the years, the valuable experience gained in a maturing oil and gas basin means that the UK now has access to world-class people and technology, extensive infrastructure for bringing oil and gas ashore and a range of well-established initiatives to improve the efficiency of working practices.



"However, the North Sea's maturity also makes it more sensitive to cost inflation which is clearly affecting its capital efficiency and hence competitiveness.



"It must be recognised that, even in the current price environment, the tax regime continues to have an impact on long-term investment confidence.



"The primary challenge facing industry, regulators and Government now is to ensure that the UK remains globally competitive, enabling it to attract the required investment in future and keep the supply chain engaged on the UKCS."

Speculation Adds to Oil Price Surge
By H. JOSEF HEBERT 15 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) Market speculation on energy prices may have added as much as 10 percent to crude oil costs and the peak may be yet to come, a top Energy Department official said Tuesday.

Guy Caruso, head of the department's Energy Information Administration, told a Senate hearing that supply and demand would suggest a price of about $90 a barrel.

Prices fluctuated around $102 a barrel Tuesday although futures prices later dropped below $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on word that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are likely to keep production as is when they meet on Wednesday. Oil prices had surged to $104 a barrel on Monday.

President Bush, meanwhile, chided OPEC for failing to pump more oil as energy prices soar and the U.S. economy slumps. "My advice to OPEC is understand the consequences of high energy prices," Bush said after an Oval Office meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

"I think it's a mistake to have your biggest customers' economies slowing down as a result of higher energy prices," Bush said.

Caruso said that supply and demand cannot account for all of the recent price surge.

"Something is clearly going on," he told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Caruso said that in the long run oil prices are forecast to decline, but he acknowledged any short-term predictions are uncertain and prices could increase further.

"I think it's difficult to say whether this is a peak because there's so much uncertainty," said Caruso.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., asked Caruso to explain the recent surge in oil prices.

"I am fairly well convinced that in the short term what we have is an unbelievable orgy of speculation," Dorgan said.

"There's clearly been a surge in moneys coming in to commodities markets, including energy, which has had some upward effect on the price above the trendline," Caruso responded. He said it was difficult to say whether speculation contributed $5 or $10 to the most recent surge, but that his agency's estimate of where prices should be, based on supply and demand, was about $90 a barrel.

Caruso said higher oil prices also stem in part from strong global economic growth, shortages of experience workers, equipment and construction material in the oil industry, and political instability in regions of major oil production.

Energy analysts also have cited the shift of money from the stock market to the commodity markets, including energy, as well as the declining value of the dollar and political turmoil in the Middle East, Nigeria and Venezuela, and a buildup of military forces on the Venezuela-Colombia border in recent days.

Caruso said his agency's forecast shows oil prices declining over the next eight years, and then resuming an upward direction.

The Energy Information Administration's long-term energy forecast expects oil prices to average $57 a barrel by 2016, declining because of increased production of crude oil and availability of alternative fuels including ethanol. But then increased demand is projected to push crude prices higher again to an average of well over $100 a barrel by 2030.

That brought a skeptical response from some senators.

"We're looking at $100 barrel today. I'm not confident in these projections in any way shape or form," said Sen. Kenneth Salazar, D-Colo., adding that he would not rule out $100 oil through 2015.

Caruso acknowledged difficulty in predicting short and long-term prices given today's price volatility.

"In the long run we do think...that high prices do stimulate investment on the supply side," he said. "We do think that over time the (fundamental) economics should prevail."

"It's our view that the longer term impact of the current high oil prices will lead to more exploration and development and investment." But Caruso noted the EIA has hedged its numbers for 2030. It said crude oil prices could be $111 a barrel by 2030 under one economic scenario, but as much as $185 a barrel under another set of economic assumptions.

On the Net:
Energy Information Administration: http://www.eia.doe.gov

Bow Valley bites the dust in North SeaFiled from Aberdeen
3/5/2008 3:37:15 PM GMT





UK: The Bow Valley-operated 16/27a-8 exploration well has turned out to be a duster. The well was drilled by semisubmersible Transocean Prospect to a total measured depth of 11,838 feet (3,608 m).



Bow Valley says Block 16/27a contains prospectivity in multiple zones including the Eocene, Paleocene, Jurassic and Triassic formations. The 16/27a-8 well is a shallow well which only evaluated the Eocene formation.



Elsewhere in the North Sea, Bow Valley will shortly participate in the drilling of the Blackbird prospect close to the Ettrick field development. Bow Valley holds 12 percent interest in Blackbird.



Bow Valley has also committed to an undisclosed drilling rig to drill one exploration well on Block 22/11b in the second half of 2008. Block 22/11b is currently owned by Bow Valley at a 100 percent working interest but the company anticipates finding a partner to join in the drilling of this well.



Bow Valley President and CEO R. G. Moffat said, "Although lack of early success in our U. exploration program is disappointing, we see significant exploration potential remaining on Block 16/27a in addition to our continuing exploration elsewhere.



"We are committed to a multi-well, multi-year exploration program funded out of cash flow. We expect to participate in two more exploration wells in the North Sea over the next six months and are working on plans to participate in additional wells through the remainder of the year and into 2009."

Oil Prices Set New Highs Above $110
By PABLO GORONDI 2 hours ago

Oil prices on Thursday hit a record high above $110 a barrel as investors fled the tumbling dollar that fell to new lows against the euro and a 12-year low versus the yen.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 78 cents to reach $110.70 in early afternoon European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, it had set a record trading high of $110.20 a barrel.

In London, Brent crude futures rose 23 cents to $106.50 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The greenback's decline has played a role in a surge in crude futures, which have hit record territory in 11 of the past 12 sessions, despite the fact that crude supplies have risen 10.2 percent since early January.

The euro rose as high as $1.5625 before falling back to $1.5592.

In Asia, the dollar briefly slumped to 99.75 yen before creeping back up to 100.27 yen.

"The dollar will remain the dominant factor until the Fed meeting next Tuesday but oil will also have to balance with equities under the pressure of more credit hedge funds going bellyup," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is weak.

"Oil and other commodities have an intrinsic value so that to the extent that the U.S. dollar depreciates, (oil) becomes relatively cheaper in terms of other currencies, such as the euro," said David Moore, a commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "So you get an adjustment to compensate for that effect."

Oil prices initially fell Wednesday in New York trading after the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, or EIA, said crude supplies rose 6.2 million barrels last week, more than three times the 1.6 million barrels forecast by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. But buyers quickly returned to the market.

"I think the weakness of the U.S. dollar was a key part of that," Moore said.

The EIA also reported that gasoline supplies rose 1.7 million barrels last week, well above the expected 300,000 barrel increase, and distillate supplies dropped 1.2 million barrels, less than the expected 2 million barrel decline.

It was the eighth increase in crude supplies in nine weeks, putting oil inventories back on a growth track after a one-week decline. Meanwhile, forecasters including the Energy Department, the International Energy Agency and OPEC have consistently reduced their demand growth predictions for this year.

Wednesday's EIA report offered more evidence demand is falling: Gasoline consumption fell 0.7 percent last week compared to the same week last year. Normally, gasoline consumption grows about 1.5 percent year-over-year, just to keep pace with population growth.

Many analysts argue that current oil prices can't be justified by the market's underlying supply and demand fundamentals. Yet evidence of weak demand amid growing supplies has not stopped oil prices from rising in the past, particularly when the dollar is falling.

"Some investors are apparently viewing oil and other commodities as providing something of a hedge against U.S. dollar weakness and possibly inflation concerns as well," Moore said.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures gained 0.77 cent to $3.0321 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices were down 1.06 cents to $2.7180 a gallon. Natural gas futures added 2.7 cents to $10.038 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Oil steady as producers warn on high prices
Tuesday, 22 April 2008 07:49
World oil prices eased only slightly in Asian trade this morning after once again crashing through record highs and as producers warned sky-high values are here to stay.

Analysts said reports of pipeline sabotage in Nigeria had helped boost prices, which broke records almost every day over the past week.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, fell 22 cents to $117.26 a barrel. The benchmark contract had struck a new peak in intraday trading of $117.76 before closing at a record $117.48 yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent North Sea crude for June delivery fell two cents to $114.41 a barrel, after finishing at an all-time high of $114.43 a barrel last night in London. It earlier struck an intraday record of $114.86.

Anglo-Dutch oil firm Shell said yesterday that it may not be able to honour contracts for April and May after a leading Nigerian militant group attacked two key pipelines of Africa's top petroleum producer.

Despite record-high prices, the president of the OPEC oil producers' cartel, Chakib Khelil, said over the weekend that there was no need for an immediate increase in production.

Oil prices are unlikely to fall back below $90, the energy minister of OPEC-member Venezuela, Rafael Ramirez, said yesterday at an international forum in Rome.

Analysts say turmoil in global financial markets has driven investors into oil and other commodities. Oil prices have also been boosted recently by a weak US dollar. The sliding value of the US currency makes dollar-priced goods cheaper for foreign buyers and tends to encourage oil demand.

UK refinery shuts for strike, fuel prices soar
04.21.08, 3:29 PM ET



LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Unions at a major British oil refinery were due to meet management for talks on a planned strike that drove oil prices to a new record on Monday as a farmers' union said fuel suppliers had imposed rationing.

The 200,000 barrels per day Grangemouth refinery in Scotland was cutting production on Monday ahead of a two-day strike due to start on Sunday over pensions cuts.

A shutdown at Grangemouth could cut flows of North Sea crude into Britain and hit British gas supplies if the Forties pipeline, which feeds the refinery, is forced to close.

"The union is meeting the company later this evening," a source with the refinery's union told Reuters by telephone.

"The plant is in the process of beginning to shut down."

Ineos was not immediately available for comment on talks. Earlier, refinery owner Ineos' Communications Manager Richard Longden said it would take a week to fully shut the plant.

Worries about a supply disruption at Grangemouth was one of the factors helping push U.S. oil futures to a new record high of $117.76 a barrel on Monday.

Oil traders said the effects could be felt first on the diesel market.

"It's more a diesel problem than anything else," said one London based oil trader.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the dispute was a matter for the company and unions to resolve. "There is contingency planning under way," he said, without giving details.

The threat of shortages pushed the price of London ICE gas oil futures, the basis for diesel prices throughout Europe, within a few dollars of their all time record high of $1,079 per tonne. European gasoline hit a record of $1,002 per tonne.

In New York, gasoline futures surged to their record high of $3.0040 a gallon and heating oil, the basis for U.S. diesel and heating oil prices, hit its all time peak at $3.3309 a gallon.

This rise in oil is incredible !, for investors great and for non hedged oil producers...the profit reports next year will be double that of 2 years ago...really extraordinary !, though we must all hope we don't get a crash in all the other stocks with this going on...the airlines must be cursing !

RF;

Tonite $120 heading to $123 by Thursay..long oil shares short airlines.

In the next 36 months, oil prices will hit $187 a barrel and gasoline prices could reach as high as $6 a gallon, Money Morning Investment Director Keith Fitz-Gerald predicts.

How? Consider the four following concurrent events:

The Dollar Doldrums: Oil is priced in dollars. And the dollar is in the dumper. OPEC members will counter the greenback decline by marking up the price of crude, causing prices to increase still more in dollar-denominated terms.


Soaring Global Oil Demand: Newsflash: there hundreds of millions of new motorists in Asia. China's oil imports jumped 18% in one month. And India's Tata Motors Ltd has unveiled a $2,500 Nano. The fallout: oil will first get more expensive as supplies start to drying up.


Obfuscation by OPEC: Key players of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have "reported" no new discoveries for decades.


Terrorism Threats: Threats are escalating beyond comfort levels, already driving up prices and creating a double-whammy effect. Damage to pipelines and refineries could crimp supplies just as global demand escalates.
That sounds pretty painful, but it also gives investors one of biggest profit opportunities in decades.

"Savvy investors [will realize that] we are still in the very early stages of a generational game with the potential to be played for great profits," Fitz-Gerald said.