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| Home Front Economy |
| Oil prices fall almost 8% |
| 2009-01-03 |
| World oil prices have dived as traders banked profits from sharp gains made just ahead of the New Year and the news on the Israeli-Gaza conflict. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 ok, i will be first too say it. I't bushs' fault |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-01-03 19:42 |
| #4 If this is so, then why have gas prices here north of seattle jumped 5-20 cents/gallon (different station reader boards) within the last 2 weeks? |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2009-01-03 16:50 |
| #3 It used to be that if Israel was in an open shooting war, there was a threat they'd shut down the Suez Canal, which would affect oil deliveries from the Persian Gulf westwards. With the Gulf of Aden situation, I don't know that this traditional linkage makes any sense. The tankers should already be taking the Cape route. It sounds like the oil bump was transitory, anyways. The commodity markets are kind of like a dinosaur with its tiny brain in its tail - thinks in very broad cliches, reacts rather slowly. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-01-03 08:29 |
| #2 Corsspatch, Part of it is that OPEC cutback production in response to the '73 war. That started the long gas lines in the '70s. Another aspect is that wars can and often do spread. Iran is closely tied to Hamas and would like to cause trouble with its Arab neighbors, as it would benefit from higher oil prices. Doesn't mean it's going to happen, but the oil traders are gazing into their smoke filled crystal balls. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2009-01-03 04:29 |
| #1 One thing that has irritated me to some extent is why an Israeli-Hamas fight would in any way threaten oil supplies. Neither Gaza nor Israel produce oil in any exportable quantity. It seems to me that you have news media and possibly speculators believing that anyplace in the middle east produces oil and somehow would disrupt supplies. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2009-01-03 01:10 |