Got $100 to burn? Here are your energy options

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL2890492920070928

LONDON (Reuters) - Energy bargains are a thing of the past. Oil prices are at record highs of more than $80 a barrel, competition for gas is heating up and $100 won't even buy you a tonne of coal anymore.

After coughing up for their fossil fuels, European users now have to pay extra for the right to pollute with it, and even the cost of that is on the rise.

During the panic buying triggered by the Arab oil embargo and supply disruptions of the early 197Os, oil still cost less than $50 a barrel in today's money and you could get a pair of them for under $100. Fifty dollars doesn't even buy two-thirds of a barrel at the moment and supplies are relatively healthy.

Strength in oil markets, driven by rising demand in rapidly industrializing countries like China and India, is dragging up other energy costs with it.

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