Why is the price of a barrel of oil at $100?

Ice Storm, Fire, Rise in sea levels, instability in Nigeria, a butterfly flapped its wings twice too fast...





Seems like what they say is true ';paranoia will destroy ya';Why is the price of a barrel of oil at $100?
It was because of a trader who wanted his 15 minutes of fame.Why is the price of a barrel of oil at $100?
NEW YORK (AFP) - A lone trader out to win a little fame made the purchase that took oil prices to the historic 100 dollars a barrel level this week but he lost 600 dollars on the deal, analysts said.





The trader has been named by US and British media as Richard Arens who runs a one man oil brokerage, ABS.





';The magic figure was hit apparently on the back of a single trade, rumoured to be a local intent on fame,'; Sucden analysts wrote in a commentary Thursday on the record breaking deal.





Arens offered 100,000 dollars on the New York market on Wednesday for 1,000 barrels of oil, producing the much talked of 100 dollars per barrel which sparked anguish across the financial markets.





He later sold on the contract for slightly below 100 dollars, taking a 600 dollar loss.





';It was just for the form; he wanted to be the first in the world to buy oil at 100 dollars,'; said Antoine Heff, an analyst at NewEdge.





The new price record came as a shock to the markets although many had been saying 100 dollars was inevitable at some point given strong demand and supply constraints.





Oil slipped back slightly but hit 100 dollars again on Thursday.





On Friday, profit-taking pushed the price back again, with quotes in late Asian trade of 99.23 dollars for New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February.





The initial spike to 100 resulted from ';really just one trade which was like a stunt,'; but more trades pushed it above 100 dollars again on Thursday, said Victor Shum, of international energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.





';We have eased off from the 100 dollars level primarily because of some profit taking,'; Shum said.





Analysts say rising oil demand has outstripped growth in supply. They point to booming Asian economies like China and India and insufficient investment by oil exporters, which has led to a decline in spare production capacity.





Geopolitical tensions and new buying interest from speculative investors like investment funds are also behind the quadrupling in the oil price over the last five years, analysts say.





A weakening US dollar, which makes oil more affordable for buyers in stronger currencies, is another factor cited for the rise in prices.
Ask OPEC They are the ones that regulate the price of oil.
Supply and demand. Simple but true.
Its because there is speculation that the groundhog will not see his shadow this groundhog day. And we all know thats not a good thing, and people are really starting to panic. Thus, up goes the oil prices. So, there you have it!


Seriously though, I really have no idea at all. There are a LOT of theories, and most people have their own opinions on the whole thing, some of which make good sense. But who to blame for this is beyond me.


Thats all that I know is that everything is going up in price, no matter what it is. Some things more than others. But oil products, WOW. Gas, oil, heating oil, all of that has increased sooo much in the past few years that its ridiculous. The unfortunate thing is that no one seems to be doing anything about it. People seem to have this 'I can't do anything about it, so why worry about it' type of attitude. When will something finally be done about it? When it hits $3.75 a gallon. Probably not. $4? Maybe even $5 a gallon? Who knows. But, enough is enough already. I mean, there are so many people who are struggling to make ends meet as it is. And this is NOT helping one bit.


How to solve this problem, I do not know. I wish that I did though. I wish someone had the answers, and that something would be done about it. I for one cannot afford to keep on paying the prices as they are now. I don't know what I'm going to do if they get much higher. The U.S. economy is in some serious trouble right now, and I think its going to get a lot worse before we see any improvement.


Just my opinion...
might.


MIGHT have something to do with the Oil companies lying year after year, about how many reserves they have or haven't got!


%26amp; that is a serious answer.
cause it can.. Console yourself by saying this.. ';Nothing really matters to me';
Supply and demand. China is using more fossil fuel than ever before, and our economy is relatively healthy too, which means we use more. It's all going to run out soon, and if we don't find practical alternatives we're all sunk.