Zelaron Gaming Forum - View Single Post

Profile · Posted 2008-09-15, 06:45 AM

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/15/mark...ex.htm?cnn=yes

Oil prices fall more than $5 this morning, down to $96 a barrel.

This relatively would be great news. However, the gas/oil market isn't directly based upon the price of crude oil barrels, there is a lot of work from point A to point B. However, having lower costs from the original source is always a great thing. Still, we need to quit focusing on what has put our country in jeopardy, and continue to move away from fossil fuels.

Quote:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices fell sharply Monday after initial reports that Hurricane Ike did not do as much damage as was originally feared to the Gulf Coast region.

In addition, the next chapter in Wall Street's tale of woes adds fuel the economic slowdown that has been crippling demand for the oil market.

Oil was trading down $5.25 to $95.93 a barrel. It traded as low as $94.13.

Oil prices started their slide in a special early-start Sunday electronic trading session that was set up in order for the oil market to assess damage from Hurricane Ike.

Electronic trading usually starts at 6 pm ET on Sunday, but started at 10 am instead. By mid-afternoon, oil had already traded as low as $98.55.

Ike: Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas Gulf Coast on Saturday morning, threatening a stronghold of the nation's refining capacity. Oil production rigs were evacuated and refineries were shuttered in preparation for the storm's arrival.

While production in the region remains largely shuttered, preliminary reports coming from the region indicate that destruction may not be as significant as feared. Analysts were still waiting for news out of the region, however.

Refineries are especially vulnerable to flooding, and after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf in 2005, refineries were out for 6 to 9 months.

The Gulf Coast region houses 42% of total U.S. refining capacity. Texas, where Ike first hit as a Category 2 hurricane, is home to 26 refineries, or more than 25% of the nation's total refining capacity. The 26 refineries can process nearly 4.8 million barrels of crude per day, according to the Department of Energy.

Hurricane Ike resulted in a decrease of 3.9 million barrels per day of refinery capacity, the Energy Department stated. Meanwhile, 99.7% of crude production and 98.4% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was shuttered, as of Sunday.

MMS estimated that 591 of the 717 manned production platforms - about 82.4 % - remained evacuated in the wake of Hurricane Gustav earlier this month and after Hurricane Ike.

Economic slowdown: Prices have fallen more than $50 off the record high price of $147.27 a barrel, set July 11. As the U.S. and global economies have buckled under credit pressures, demand for energy has fallen off.

Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank, announced early Monday that it would be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In addition, Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) will purchase Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) for $50 billion. American International Group, the nation's largest insurer, was planning to restructure in an effort to raise capital.

The barrage of negative news from Wall Street underscores the crippled U.S. economy that has chipped away at energy demand for months.

Nigeria: Nigeria's main rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), declared an "oil war" in the nation in response to what it called "unprovoked" attacked by the government.

Turmoil in the supply-rich region has been a constant, and oil prices did not jump. A threat to supply would typically send prices higher