Monday, December 30, 2013

Why is the WTI oil price so high?


Gas prices here jumped 10 cents in one day last week.   Of course it was the day I decided to
fill up the gas tank.  Luckily I drive a very small car.

This once again made me wonder, "why are oil prices so high".   

As I posted previously, I thought the oil prices were being rigged, and the government thought so also.
However, perhaps the oil traders were successful in their bid to stop disclosure of records...
Some of the world’s largest oil traders including Vitol Group, Morgan Stanley and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) are asking a judge to stop the disclosure of millions of records gathered by the top U.S. commodity regulator during its nationwide investigation of the crude markets.

Which, of course, would allow them to cover their tracks, and start a different scheme to
manipulate the price of oil.

There is a very good article in FOREX NEWS questioning the rational of the increase in the
WTI
click here for link
...


Fundamentally, the case for continued bullish push for WTI Crude remains weak. Global economic recovery may have improved, but production levels are far from pre financial crisis levels. Even after taking inflation into account, price should not be anywhere near the 100 USD per barrel level – where Oil was at before the crisis. Furthermore, oil production levels in US are hitting record highs after record highs, and current bout of decreasing inventory may simply be a short-term reprieve, with inventory expecting to build up strongly once again in 2014. - See more at: http://www.forexnews.com/blog/2013/12/30/wti-crude-current-bull-run-may-last/#sthash.kA7WX1XO.dpuf

Fundamentally, the case for continued bullish push for WTI Crude remains weak. Global economic recovery may have improved, but production levels are far from pre financial crisis levels. Even after taking inflation into account, price should not be anywhere near the 100 USD per barrel level – where Oil was at before the crisis. Furthermore, oil production levels in US are hitting record highs after record highs, and current bout of decreasing inventory may simply be a short-term reprieve, with inventory expecting to build up strongly once again in 2014. - See more at: http://www.forexnews.com/blog/2013/12/30/wti-crude-current-bull-run-may-last/#sthash.kA7WX1XO.dpuf

No comments: