OPEC Warns That Oil Prices Will Stay High

[hadrons]

VIENNA, Austria - OPEC (news - web sites) warned Sunday that oil prices, already hovering near $50 a barrel, would remain high through the spring, even as the cartel decided to keep its production ceiling at 27 million barrels a day.


The decision, reached at a meeting of the 11-nation group in the Austrian capital, offers little solace for consumers worried about the price of heating oil this winter.


Kuwait's oil minister Sheik Ahmad Fahd al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who leads the group, said he was given permission to conduct a meeting via telephone before the next meeting in March to address the production issue if market conditions warrant.


Al-Sabah said the group's decision was aimed at bringing more stability to the market, and called on consumers and producers to "walk together ... for prices to be acceptable."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050130/ap_on_bi_ge/opec

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Did they warn of peak oil in the next 3 years?

Just curious....

[Warren Stupidity]

3. its now - we are there.

One of the features of the peak is that oil prices become the dominant factor in the world economy. We are there. Note also that opec is now in complete control of world oil prices, another feature of the peak.

Also the $50 peg is recognition that the bush regime's devaluation campaign has forced the obvious revaluation of commodities tied to the dollar, like oil. As others have mentioned elsewhere, commodity producers and debt holders are working on strategies to hedge their dollar dependency by shifting (gradually and partially) to euros. This is a tricky game - one misstep by any of the big players and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.

[Massacure]

5. We are on the ski lift. We start skiing sometimes between 2010 and 2012.

Trust me, and this form of skiing won't be any fun either!

[hatrack]

2. Nothing to see here! Move along! Nothing to see here! Move along!

Yeah, it's standard for gas prices to go up 20 cents in less than two weeks in January. After all, just look at how many Americans travel right after New Year's. It's a peak travel month, doncha know?

[indepat]

4. Shocking, but seem to remember in 2001GWB indicated he felt their pain

[True_Blue]

6. I hope their greed

will spur the rest of the world to invest more in alternative fuel sources!

[puerco-bellies]

7. Right now the September 05 Unleaded contract is trading for 1.31

Last year at this time it was around .98 cents per gallon. This summer expect the N.Y. Merc contract of Sept or Oct to trade around 1.70 to 2.00. Crude will probably hit $60 to $62bbl. If we attack Iran via selected air strikes $75bbl for crude. If we go on the ground $100bbl.
We are so screwed, but on the upside I will make a ton of money trading energies this year.

Don't hate the players, hate the game.
P-B

[VegasWolf]

8. Hah, and the red neck, mulletheads that voted for bush thought oil

would go down. Suckers!!!

[mbperrin]

9. High oil prices?

No shit.