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As oil passes $100, the question: will it stop?
If the global economy slows, oil prices will fall. But probably not until after March.
from the January 4, 2008 edition
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Oil futures hit a record $100 a barrel in futures trading this week, after attacks in Nigeria, Africa's leading oil producer. But most analysts expect that prices will decline from the current spike. A Reuters poll of 37 energy analysts' expectations yielded an average prediction of $74 a barrel for this year, compared with about $70 a barrel this past year.
If the global economy slows as expected, that will reduce demand for oil. But analysts warn that given the cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere, prices won't decline substantially until March. If the consensus is correct, that should mean steep declines in the last half of 2008. To get an average of $74 per barrel, current prices will need to fall to about $60. There are some dissenters. The investment firm Goldman Sachs, which correctly predicted $100 a barrel, recently raised its average price estimate for 2008 to $95 a barrel, reports staff writer Dan Murphy.
What should we watch to see if prices will go higher?
Basic economics and politics will determine the direction of prices. On the economic side, many economists are expecting global growth to slow and that would reduce demand for oil. But if the US and European economies continue to chug along, and China and India appear set to post double-digit growth rates again, those could be signals that prices will remain high.
On the political front, events like a war with Iran, a major deterioration in Iraqi security, or even greater instability in Nigeria, could drive up prices if oil traders worry that unrest threatens oil production or shipments.
Why might oil prices go down?
There is a small number of economists who argue that the 2007 surge in oil prices has had more to do with an overestimation of the risks of political chaos in oil producers and outright speculation than with the basics of supply and demand. Fadel Gheit, a senior official at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York who tracks the oil market, says he thinks prices are about $40 higher than the basics of supply and demand would indicate. But he's reluctant to predict when those declines will happen.
"I've been in this business for 20 years and what I'll tell you is only fools predict oil prices," he says. "But it's very clear in my mind that oil prices have been totally disconnected from reality and are not reflective at all of supply and demand fundamentals."
He points out that oil traders were justifying the surge in oil prices for much of 2007 because of fears of a possible US war with Iran. But since a US National Intelligence Estimate was released that made a war much less likely, oil prices have remained near record highs. "The NIE comes out and what happened? Nothing.... The premium that went into oil prices never left. The speculative market is like the tail wagging the dog."
"Now the market is saying prices have surged because of unrest in Nigeria? There's been unrest in Nigeria for 40 years, so who are they kidding?"
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agrees, arguing in its December report that the "slowing economic outlook should further ease pressure on the market."
