Oil prices rose to their highest since October 2008 in trading 24 August. A barrel of light sweet crude oil trading on the NY Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) for October delivery touched $74.81 before closing at $74.37. Traders give several reasons, chief among them the continuing demand for oil from China, which has seen a massive expansion in the number of automobiles on the road. Oil output from the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia is steady, and the onset of the hurricane season in the North Atlantic adds to supply worries. Increased optimism about the economy is driving the price of commodities higher, too. US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was cautiously optimistic about the US economy last week and said that it was nearing recovery.
Others are not so optimistic. Nouriel Roubini, a NY University professor who accurately predicted the world financial melt-down, says that growth could be anemic for several years in the major economies. He says that commodity prices are running ahead of fundamentals and sees signs of speculation in those markets. BBC, Reuters, Romandie News (Fre)
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News story, GenevaLunch, 25 August 2009.
Filed under: World news
Tags: Ben Bernanke, China, commodities, hurricane season, light sweet crude, North Atlantic, Nouriel Roubini, NY University, NYMEX, oil, oil traders, petroleum, Saudi Arabia