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Home Front Economy
Crude Oil Falls Below $33 a Barrel on Dollar, Contract Expiry
2009-01-21
Crude oil fell below $33 a barrel in New York as the strengthening dollar reduced the appeal of commodity investments at a time when demand is declining and stockpiles are rising.
Gas is overpriced at the pump right now at $1.75. $33 a barrel is about $1.30 a gallon.
At Cushing, Oklahoma, where the benchmark oil for New York futures is stored, inventories have climbed to 33 million barrels, the highest since records started four years ago. The February contract will cease trading today, so traders have to sell futures or accept the barrels at a time of falling demand. "Traders are rolling over to the next month to avoid delivery and the dollar is rallying," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst with VTB Capital in London. "All this against a background of falling demand and easing geopolitical tensions."
The oil ticks are wondering if they can afford the gas pipe...
Crude oil for February delivery fell to $32.70, down 10.4 percent from last week's close and the lowest since Dec. 19, on the New York Mercantile Exchange today. The contract traded at $34.10 a barrel at 1:32 p.m. London time.

Floor trading was closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday yesterday. Trades then will be booked today for settlement. The more-actively traded March contract was at $40.28, down 5.4 percent.
Posted by:Fred

#12  I'm still waiting for this to show up at a pump near my home. Maybe some esoteric concept like global warming (or some other equally obtuse b.s.) explains this dislocation between gasoline cost and pump price.
Posted by: JohnQC   2009-01-21 18:53  

#11  $1.699/gal at Sam's Club in Albuquerque last night. It was $1.449/gal there on 12/14/08.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2009-01-21 11:46  

#10  $1.49-$1.57 in Colorado Springs, CO. Hooorah!
Posted by: DarthVader   2009-01-21 11:12  

#9  $1.88 in BFE KY.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2009-01-21 10:14  

#8  A pox on the Wall Street oil and gas speculators.

Actually a pox on the government regulators who sat by and let it all happen even though they had to the power to call margin at any time. Remember, cutting and back and the the stockpiling began back in summer while prices still went up at historical rates in September. It was when the Franks Subprime Housing Collapse hit the banks and the banks choked lending that the market executed its own margin call resulting in the speculators being unable to keep their game going. Every one of the regulators who had the power and responsibility to do their job and failed should be collecting unemployment yesterday.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-01-21 08:32  

#7  Pebbles is onto the issue - comments elsewhere show that refiners (Valero?) are doing big maintenance now, hence a slower supply. The upshot is a smoother supply chain this summer, so he proce drops should continue.

Again, the arsenal of democracy challenging the world to match our adjusting recession. Wonder how the reactions will play out?
Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division   2009-01-21 07:04  

#6  I hate to imagine where this economy might be if we were still pay in excess of $4.00 per gallon for gas. A pox on the Wall Street oil and gas speculators.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-01-21 07:00  

#5  Don't forget the 30-50 cent tax per gallon from the Feds and State. In Missouri that is 37 cents. Given that I was paying 1.26 on New Year's Day, 1.60 is annoying now, but it will drop from now until April.
Posted by: rammer   2009-01-21 06:56  

#4  Shortage of Refining capacity?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2009-01-21 06:02  

#3  About 2 weeks ago the price shot back up to around 1.60/gal here in SC and hasn't moved despite the further collapse of oil prices. Is this still due to Putie and his buddies screwing with Western Europe (that at least made sense when it came to a price increase)?

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2009-01-21 05:30  

#2  Petrol is $2.35/gal here in Anchorage. Somehow, the damned price ratchet got stuck and it is not going down. Usually, we are the same as California, except our taxes are lower. Well, that price is very welcome, after the $4+/gallon we were paying.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2009-01-21 01:29  

#1  WTF? $1.30 per gallon. Kind of makes me want to be like the old days...put a few buck-o-gas in the tank. Get a 40 OZ and a pack of smokes. And just cruise around the 'hood. Just lookin' for something to do.
Posted by: texhooey   2009-01-21 00:41  

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