Oil ends 2005 up 40%, but experts think price will go down in 2006

Oil futures settled above $61 a barrel Friday and finished 40 percent higher than they started in 2005, capping a tough year for consumers but a great one for the petroleum industry as prices soared amid strong demand and tight supplies.

Fitzpatrick believes average oil prices will be closer to $50 a barrel in 2006, an outlook predicated on a slowdown in economic growth in the second half of the year brought on by high energy prices. His outlook is more bearish than many of his peers.

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