Crude Outcome

Oil closed the week above $50 a barrel, reflecting concerns about supply disruption overseas and hurricane damage to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The Bush administration said it would allow a fourth oil company to borrow crude from the strategic petroleum reserve. Prices also rose on threats by rebels to disrupt Nigerian supplies. The International Monetary Fund said higher oil prices would only slightly reduce its forecast of global growth to 4.3 percent next year, but some private forecasters aren’t so sanguine.

Washington Post