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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (11061)	3/31/2004 1:34:04 PM
From: John Carragher	Respond to of 81568

Kerry took care of the gasoline crisis. He doesn't even understand supply and demand ,,, He should keep quiet until he learns a little more about the oil market. Crude Oil Plunges Crude Oil Plunges as U.S. Supplies Surge to a 19-Month High March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil plunged after the Energy Department reported that U.S. inventories surged to the highest since August 2002. Stockpiles jumped 5.7 million barrels to 294.3 million in the week ended March 26, according to the department. Supplies were 4.9 percent higher than a year earlier. The report came after OPEC said it would cut output quotas starting tomorrow by 1 million barrels. Some members said prices are high because of speculation in the market, not because of shortages. ``The crude numbers are looking healthy,'' said Justin Fohsz, a broker with Starsupply Petroleum Inc. in Englewood, New Jersey. ``OPEC agreed to cut output, but the news had been priced in yesterday. We are paying more attention to inventories.'' Crude oil for May delivery was down $1.17, or 3.2 percent, at $35.08 a barrel at 11:43 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were up 13 percent from a year earlier when U.S. forces were attacking Iraq's Republican Guard units defending cities outside Baghdad. In London, the May Brent crude-oil futures contract was down $1.08, or 3.3 percent, at $31.37 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg forecast an increase of 2 million barrels. The department released its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. Washington time. Ministers from countries including Saudi Arabia and Algeria have expressed concern that oil prices may decline in the next three months as demand slows with warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere. `Enough Supply' ``I think there is enough supply in the market,'' said Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Kuwait's oil minister. Another cut is possible in the second quarter because supply is about 3.5 million barrels a day higher than demand, he said. OPEC is ready to make additional cuts in its targets said Qatar's oil minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah after the U.S. inventory report. ``I hate to agree with OPEC but they have a point,'' said Kyle Cooper, an analyst with Citigroup Inc. in Houston. ``The speculators and the U.S. government have added somewhere between $6 and $10 a barrel to the price of oil.'' This year's 8 percent rise in New York oil has helped push U.S. gasoline pump prices last week to a record $1.758 a gallon, increasing pressure on President George W. Bush to bring down energy costs seven months before an election. ``It was a well-managed stage play,'' said Sarah Emerson, managing director of Energy Security Analysis Inc., a consulting firm in Wakefield, Massachusetts. ``Everyone played the part they were assigned. The Saudis couldn't have been seen caving in to U.S. pressure while Kuwait and the UAE signaled that they are friends and allies of the U.S.'' Excess Output The 10 members with quotas are likely to produce 25.7 million barrels a day this month, little changed from February and 1.2 million barrels a day above the group's current self- imposed quota, according to Geneva-based consultant PetroLogistics Ltd. ``There are two reasons we aren't moving higher,'' said Marshall Steeves, an analyst with Refco Group Ltd. in New York. ``It was a foregone conclusion once the Saudis made their sentiments clear, and even with the announcement they won't implement the cut.'' OPEC will meet informally in May during the International Energy Forum gathering in Amsterdam, said Nigeria's presidential adviser on oil, Edmund Daukoru. ``They will keep up the charade as long as they can,'' Steeves said. ``There will probably be no substantial cuts for the next few months.''