Crude Calms During Financial Storm
Melinda Peer, 09.15.08, 2:00 PM ET
With Hurricane Ike menacing oil production facilities along the Gulf Coast and Nigerian rebels waging war on Royal Dutch Shell in protest of its control of the country’s oil supply, the costly commodity has been in the cross-hairs–though you’d never know it by the price. Futures slid below $100 a barrel on Monday, dipping to lows not seen since February.
Oil prices have been lodged in the triple digits for most of the year as populous, energy-hungry emerging markets increasingly weigh on the world’s oil supply. Investors have also been driving up future prices by using oil as a hedge against the weak U.S. dollar.
But oil futures fell well below July’s record high of $147.27 a barrel on Monday as initial assessments of Hurricane Ike pronounced the storm less destructive to oil production facilities and pipelines than initially feared. Although many Texas-based refineries remained without power on Monday, key infrastructure in the area hadn’t been terribly damaged by the hurricane.
Light sweet crude for November delivery was trading at $97.12 a barrel in New York during Monday’s mid-morning trading session, down 4.1%, or by $4.13, from Friday’s settle price of $101.25 but up from a low of $94.41, reached early in the day’s trading session.
Crumbling crude prices also reflected fears that the energy demandwould suffer if U.S. economic weakness cracks global markets (see “Fear Of Global Weakness Puts Asia In Reverse“). The fear was especially poignant on Monday as Wall Street’s week got off to a tumultuous start on news that Bank of America (nyse: BAC – news –people ) agreed to buy Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER – news – people ) for $50.0 billion and Lehman Brothers Holdings (nyse: LEH – news –people ) declared bankruptcy (see ” Lehman Goes To The Wall“).
Monday’s news that Nigerian militants continued to attack security forces guarding Royal Dutch Shell’s energy facilities in Nigeria appeared to have little affect on crude prices during Monday’s trading session.
The United States Oil Fund (amex: USO – news – people ) exchange-traded fund lost $3.22, or 4.0%, at $78.27 and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (amex: XLE – news – people ) ETF shed $2.91, or 4.2%, to $66.02.
Reuters contributed to this article.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
