Rising oil prices
Saturday, June 7th, 2008There is a lot being said these days about rising commodity prices, in particular oil prices. Yesterday, after 2 consecutive sessions of price fall, oil prices jumped to record highs, fleeting close to the $140/bbl mark. While loads of market participants are blaming speculators for manipulating the market, others point to the constraint supply not matching rising demand as the key reason. It is undoubtedly true that emerging economies like India and China’s unquenched thirst for oil has more than offset any slowdown seen in the US, and with the Olympics coming up in China, things are unlikely to change, at least in the short term. Moreover, OPEC is reluctant to pump in any oil, even at these ridiculous prices and non-OPEC supply is faltering.