Prices are climbing back towards $96 a barrel
Friday, 2 November 2007, 10:52 GMT
Oil prices have rebounded to near their record $96-a-barrel mark after a brief respite and analysts expect further volatility ahead.
Crude oil rose $2.07 to $95.56 on Friday morning while Brent crude traded up $1.76 at $91.48.
Analysts maintained the brief retreat from rising prices after they hit $96 on Wednesday was only temporary.
Many observers now believe crude oil will probably break through $100 a barrel this year.
‘Unknown territory’
Strong demand from developing nations and a weak US dollar are likely to keep pushing prices up, experts believe.
There are also concerns about geopolitical issues such as a possible clash between the US and Iran, and an escalation of hostilities between Turkey and rebel Kurdish fighters based in the northern areas of Iraq.
What is driving oil prices up?
The problem facing oil markets and analysts is that all of the factors are combining to create a high level of uncertainty in the market and this, in turn, is driving prices higher.
Oil prices surged on Wednesday after a report showed domestic US crude stocks fell by 3.9 million barrels last week, worrying analysts who had forecast an increase of 100,000 barrels.
The US is the world’s biggest energy consumer and the state of its inventories is a key concern for market watchers.
“We are stepping into an unknown area,” said Ken Hasegawa, a broker at Fimat Japan, of the latest price spike.
“Nobody wants to sell, given the fear of a further rise.”
The weakening US dollar which has made oil, priced in dollars, cheaper to buy outside of the US has also fanned the price rises.
The dollar hit its weakest levels against the pound since 1981 on Wednesday.
Other factors supporting prices are concerns about the stop-start violence in Nigeria’s main oil producing region and worries about the availability of heating supplies for the US winter.
Fixing denied
Oil producers’ body Opec continues to be criticised for not doing enough to restrain prices despite agreeing to lift daily output by 500,000 barrels, an increase which came into effect on Thursday.
A senior Opec official said the organisation was not to blame for the price rises and insisted there was no shortage of capacity in the market.
“We never fix oil prices,” said Abdullah al-Attiyah, Qatar’s energy minister.
“It is market driven and it is out of control.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7074589.stm
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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