Thursday, April 20, 2006

Crude Oil Prices Skyrocketing

Photo above taken from a NY gas station from midweek. Gas prices in most places were between 3 and 4 dollars per gallon. Something unthinkable just a year ago.


Americans are complaining already. In fact, people were uptight before the rise from this week. So imagine what they are going to do if the U.S. attacks Iran? Oil will go to 80, 90, and perhaps 100 dollars a barrel. That is going to be really crazy. The U.S. is facing a serious dilemma...held hostage by oil, and a hostage to its own bad foreign policy and bad energy policy here at home.

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Oil prices top $72 a barrel

By Brad Foss
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON — Oil prices leapt above $72 a barrel Wednesday, setting a record for the third straight day and increasing the likelihood that pump prices will keep rising as summer nears.

The rally in oil futures was kicked off by a government report showing U.S. gasoline supplies shrank for the seventh straight week. That magnified market jitters about a nuclear dispute between Iran and the international community, as well as supply disruptions in Iraq, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico.

Even though retail gasoline prices already top $3 a gallon in some parts of the country, motorists are only lightly tapping the brakes on demand, according to government data.

But that could change in the months ahead if higher pump prices squeeze discretionary spending, particularly among low-income Americans, economists say.

Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, warned Wednesday that it anticipated its least wealthy customers to spend less in 2006 because of higher fuel expenses. "As fuel prices go up, it dampens our store sales," said Tom Schoewe, the company's chief financial officer.

Continue reading here... From Seattle Times

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