Newest job numbers portend weak energy demand

7/8 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)

With the U.S. and other nations hemorrhaging jobs, demand for gasoline and other fuels has plummeted. The unemployed are not commuting, factories are not producing as many consumer goods, and heat or electricity at millions of homes has been shut off.

“We are swimming in oil,” analyst Stephen Schork said. “We are swimming in oil because production is strong and demand is weak … and it is going to remain that way in the short run.”

Still, Schork acknowledges that more people are buying into oil markets on “any positive thread.”

Associated Press