Yup... pretty soon, super freak out...
Goldman Sachs analyst Arjun N. Murti said in a report that ''oil markets may have entered the early stages of what we have referred to as a 'super spike' period -- a multiyear trading band of oil prices high enough to meaningfully reduce energy consumption and recreate a spare capacity cushion only after which will lower energy prices return."
(They make that sound like a sure thing... more follows.)
Boston.com:
'Super spike' fears, rising prices of gas push oil up By Associated Press | April 1, 2005
Crude futures rallied above $55 a barrel yesterday, helped by rising prices for gasoline and heating oil and an investment bank report that said strong demand and tight supplies could cause a ''super spike" that sends prices above $100 a barrel.
After climbing as high as $56.10 a barrel, light, sweet crude for May delivery settled at $55.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, an increase of $1.41.
An intraday Nymex peak of $57.60 was set on March 17.
On Wednesday, heating oil futures settled more than 5 cents higher and gasoline futures closed more than 2 cents higher following the release of US government data that showed a drop in the nation's supply of gasoline and distillate fuel, which includes heating oil.
The report, which also showed a large increase in crude oil inventories, said gasoline demand over the past month was 2 percent higher than last year.
''I think the market is a little surprised that demand is staying pretty strong even with record-high prices," said Tom Bentz, a broker at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York. <...>
Addiction is like that. The demand side of the market for Heroin remains remarkably resilient as well.
MORE:
(Second and third 'graph...)
HighBeam Research: Title: Why natural gas is the future of energy
Date: 3/28/2005 Publication: The Economic Times (New Delhi, India) (via Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)
Byline: Pradeep Kurup
http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=2475789
Mar. 28--Till recently natural gas was a poor cousin of oil. Natural gas was often stranded and that left it undeveloped. But today natural gas is very much in favour as a clean fossil fuel, especially for electricity generation in industrialised countries.
Global proven gas reserves are 5501 TcM with around 60 years of production at current utilisation rates compared to 40 years for oil.
The world could be consuming more gas than oil by 2030 and that would mean an even greater incremental growth in both gas supply and transportation than the industry has seen up to date, with nearly 25 percent of all natural gas produced now crossing an international border. <...>
The EIA, in conjunction with the Oil and Gas Journal and World Oil publications, estimates world proved natural gas reserves to be around 5,210.8 Tcf.
Most of these reserves are located in the Middle East with 1,836.2 Tcf, or 34 per cent of the world total, and Europe and the former Central Asia with 2158.7, or 42 per cent of total world reserves.
The United States, by this calculation, possesses 3 per cent of the world total natural gas reserves.
<...> As demand for gas is increasing, there is concern over the security of supply. In the case of countries like the USA and European countries and India, where indigenous supply cannot keep up with demand, gas being sourced from greater and greater distances, bringing together a mix of political, economic and technical risk. <...>
-30- L http://www.leighm.net