The market is not really factoring in the true impact of military action but the mere mention of it sends prices higher. |
The path of Rita really spared most of the damage to refineries that was the concern. There's still a lot of pressure on the market, particularly due to tight capacity. |
The reality is that if there was any attack on Iran, there would certainly be a major disruption to supplies. |
The upward revision in prices is made tentatively – given the lack of fundamental support for current high prices and the traditional volatility of speculative funds. |
Then there's Nigeria, also bubbling along, and no short-term view that things there will resolve themselves. |
There is a bit of a time-lag in all this, but a prolonged cool spell should see a real impact on heating oil stocks, which until now have been robust. |
These concerns also led to a reduction in speculative long positions in the futures market, resulting in less speculative support for spot prices. |
This is really much more important than OPEC supply as their spare capacity is largely heavy and sour and the real shortage is capacity to upgrade such fuels anyway, |
This is really much more important than OPEC supply as their spare capacity is largely heavy and sour and the real shortage is capacity to upgrade such fuels anyway. |
We saw last year just how much oil shot up after Ivan, ... Crude markets remain delicately balanced and if Katrina causes substantial damage to production facilities, oil prices will exceed $US70 and could push toward $US80 a barrel. |
We saw last year just how much oil shot up after Ivan. Crude markets remain delicately balanced and if Katrina causes substantial damage to production facilities, oil prices will exceed $70 and could push toward $80 a barrel. |
We see prices continuing to rise during the year but the real question is whether we have pushed up a bit too high with speculative interests. I wouldn't be surprised if it came off a little. |
We should see pressure to shift to heating oil if natural gas supply can't meet demand, and the shift to distillates will push prices up further. |
We're now in wait-and-see mode, ... There was a pull-back after Katrina went through, but early indicators are certainly that some damage has been done. |
We're now in wait-and-see mode. It could be weeks before we know the full extent (of damage), but given how easily $70 was reached, it's not out of the question that $80 could be the next barrier if there's long-term damage. |