$100 by Christmas, or maybe before:
Crude Price to Rise Until Early 2008, Algeria Oil Minister Says
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')rude oil prices, which reached $90 a barrel in New York for the first time yesterday, are likely to rise until early 2008, Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said.
"The price is going to continue to increase,'' Khelil said today at a press conference in Algiers. "The reasons are political tension and stagnant oil refining capacity worldwide.'' Prices may decrease after the northern hemisphere winter, when demand may drop by 2 million barrels a day, he said.
Oil futures prices in New York have gained 51 percent in the last year. They climbed 5.9 percent this past week to $88.60 a barrel late yesterday because of the dollar's depreciation and concern Turkey may attack Kurdish rebels in Iraq, which has the world's third-largest oil reserves.
Global crude demand was 85.5 million barrels a day on Sept. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Don't bet on that price drop next spring, Chakib. We may be struggling to keep up with demand by then.