Oil Rises for a Third Day as Cold Weather Increases Europe Heating Demand

[bemildred]

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose to the highest in more than four months in New York as a cold front sweeping across Europe pushed temperatures in Moscow to the lowest in 50 years.

Russia cut electricity and natural gas exports to help heat Moscow, Europe's biggest city, where the plunge in temperatures has killed more than 20 people and pushed power demand to a record. Germany's temperatures will drop later this week and may be as much as 12 degrees Fahrenheit below normal in Hamburg and Frankfurt by Jan. 27, Meteorlogix LLC said on Jan. 20.

``This could obviously be a major concern for everybody in Europe,'' said Gerard Burg, an energy and minerals economist with National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne. ``The only easy, quick response is to increase your fuel oil use.''

Crude oil for March delivery rose as much as 72 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $69.20 in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest intraday price since Sept. 2. It was at $69.05 at 10:49 a.m. in Singapore, 42 percent higher than a year ago.

Bloomberg

[msongs]

1. this cold weather was predicted months ago...

I read england weather from time to time, and a few months ago, a winter synopsis predicted a much colder
than usual winter across europe all the way to ireland starting after the new year began. looks like that
assessment was pretty well on the spot.

wish we had that accurate of long range predictions in so california :-)

Msongs
www.msongs.com/dean2008.htm

[Bigmack]

2. I just heard on "60 Minutes"....

that the Alberta oil sands are gonna save our asses.

Too bad every book I've read about peak oil says that that stuff will be EXPENSIVE to get from sand to gasoline.

Ya think I should guard my Prius with a gun?

[hadrons]

3. and European leaders want sanctions on Iranian oil too???

:eyes:

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Update: oil prices decline

Same link as the OP:

Crude oil declined, after reaching a four-month high in New York earlier today, on forecasts that unusually warm weather will prevail across the eastern half of the U.S., curbing demand for fuels by the world's largest consumer.

Temperatures east of the Rocky Mountains will be higher than normal through Feb. 5, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. Stockpiles of heating oil were 9 percent higher than their five-year seasonal average for the week ended Jan. 13, the Energy Department reported last week.
...
Crude oil for March delivery fell as much as 88 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $67.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where it was down 65 cents at 11:32 a.m. London time. Oil earlier reached $69.20, the highest price since Sept. 6, a week after Hurricane Katrina idled much of the U.S.'s output in the Gulf of Mexico and pushed prices to a record $70.85 a barrel.

Brent crude for March settlement declined 55 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $65.88 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.

[Javaman]

5. And only crickets are heard from the MSM...n/t

[cliss]

6. The Europeans are in for some learing curves

this winter. I'm not sure why they would be so dependent on oil for heating. This cannot be the case historically. Haven't they used coal, or firewood for heating? In Sweden, most homes are heated with radiators with hot water circulating through the apartment buildings.

Why this skewed dependence on oil, when they know damn well things are volatile? And to add to the stupidity: they are going with "friend Bush" to slap sanctions against Iran. Wow, the timing couldn't be more stupid. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

The Europeans have not been spoiled with artificially low oil prices like we have here in the US. They have had much higher prices. They have shown themselves to be innovative, much more adaptible than the ossified US.