Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Oil Prices Eyeing $ 100 In 2008

Oil prices ended the year near $96 a barrel, or 57 percent higher than where they began, and analysts expect rising demand and geopolitical instability to keep upward pressure on energy costs early in 2008. MCX Crude oil closed the session trades at Rs 3763 per barrel and is now quoting at Rs 3772 per barrel.

A record-breaking year for energy futures ended quietly on Monday, with oil futures declining 2 cents to settle at $95.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil reached a trading record of $99.29 on Nov. 21, and remains close to the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103.

Crude futures averaged $72.41 in 2007, compared with $66.25 in 2006, and had their the biggest percentage gain since 1999, when prices more than doubled to $25.60 a barrel. Crude futures surged in 2007 as demand from booming economies in Asia surged while American motorists continued to hit the road in record numbers, sending gas prices above $3 a gallon for the 3rd straight year.

Other factors influencing energy prices were the West's standoff with Iran over its nuclear program, attacks by Nigerian rebels on that oil-rich nation's crude infrastructure and Turkish attacks on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, which sparked concerns that the rebels would retaliate by attacking an oil pipeline. The recent assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has exacerbated worries about global instability.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration recently cut its global demand growth projections for oil to 87.2 million barrels a day from an earlier forecast of 87.5 million barrels a day. The EIA left domestic gasoline demand growth projections for next year unchanged at 1 percent.

At the same time, the EIA estimated that oil prices will average nearly $85 a barrel in 2008, while gasoline prices will average $3.11 a gallon, peaking above $3.40 a gallon in the spring.

Gasoline futures for January delivery rose 1.61 cents to settle at $2.4758 a gallon on the Nymex on Monday, while January heating oil futures rose 0.74 cent to settle at $2.6444 a gallon. Both contracts have set new price records in recent weeks on supply concerns. In other Nymex trading, February natural gas futures rose 9.7 cents to settle at $7.483 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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