The world oil benchmark price briefly topped $80 a barrel

For U.S. now, $80 oil may be tough to bear…

…”The idea of OPEC bringing on just 500,000 barrels a day, and not until November, is like Ben Bernanke saying maybe we should lower interest rates 1/10th of 1%: It has no relevance,” said Matt Simmons of Simmons & Co., an energy investment bank in Houston, and author of a controversial book contending Saudi oil reserves are less prolific than claimed.

In addition, it takes an estimated two months for extra tankers to reach the U.S. from the Middle East.


“We believe the door to $80 and beyond remains open and beckons,” said Barclays energy analysts Paul Horsnell and Kevin Norrish in a note yesterday.

The big question is what impact $80 oil prices will have on the economy. Oil-field services stocks rallied, but other stocks sank, including airlines that get socked by higher jet-fuel prices.

Even refiners could get hurt, the Barclays analysts pointed out: Gasoline inventories are within a hair of their lowest levels since 2000, and profits from converting oil to fuel shrink with higher crude prices.

Wall St. Journal