التنهات
24-06-2005, 11:54 PM
June 18, 2005
BY ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Crude oil prices reached a record high Friday on concerns that demand for petroleum in the second half of the year could outpace supply because of voracious appetites of countries such as the United States and China.
And for the gasoline-consuming public, this means retail pump prices could remain well over $2 a gallon for the rest of the summer, some analysts say. Typically, prices decline as the summer goes on.
But on Friday, crude oil futures jumped $1.89 to close at $58.47 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the highest closing mark since the exchange began trading crude in 1983. It also surpassed the previous trading session record of $58.28 set in early April.
The upward move fueled Wall Street speculation on how high prices might go.
"We will definitely hit $60," said Fadel Gheit, senior oil analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. "The question is how much higher and for how long."
Global demand for oil, along with inadequate refining and processing plants, are causing the recent jump in crude prices, experts say. The price of oil has moved up more than 50% since January, signaling a return of a summer fuel situation that is vulnerable to supply disruptions and geopolitical strife.
The rise and fall -- and eventual rise, again -- of pump prices has become all too familiar to Michigan motorists in recent years
BY ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Crude oil prices reached a record high Friday on concerns that demand for petroleum in the second half of the year could outpace supply because of voracious appetites of countries such as the United States and China.
And for the gasoline-consuming public, this means retail pump prices could remain well over $2 a gallon for the rest of the summer, some analysts say. Typically, prices decline as the summer goes on.
But on Friday, crude oil futures jumped $1.89 to close at $58.47 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the highest closing mark since the exchange began trading crude in 1983. It also surpassed the previous trading session record of $58.28 set in early April.
The upward move fueled Wall Street speculation on how high prices might go.
"We will definitely hit $60," said Fadel Gheit, senior oil analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. "The question is how much higher and for how long."
Global demand for oil, along with inadequate refining and processing plants, are causing the recent jump in crude prices, experts say. The price of oil has moved up more than 50% since January, signaling a return of a summer fuel situation that is vulnerable to supply disruptions and geopolitical strife.
The rise and fall -- and eventual rise, again -- of pump prices has become all too familiar to Michigan motorists in recent years