$85 Oil Next?

Back on February 25th I made this post: Get Ready for $70 Per Barrel Oil Again. Ok, so every so often I get something right. The real lesson in this is that worldwide supply vs demand is the key issue. We do not live in an energy vacuum. These two pictures tell why crude oil will soon take out the all time high in the $78 range and move higher from there over the next several months:

The above charts are from the IEA which doesn't even have a complete grasp on world oil demand because of unreliable data from emerging nations, especially China.

Simply stated, there is a WORLDWIDE supply imbalance. No matter how much black gold may be in storage in Cushing, Oklahoma the grim long term view is that refineries can make gasoline fast enough not only here in the U.S. but in overseas nations as well.

Prices are supposed to come down as summer draws to a close (seasonal factor of once upon a time), but I can just hear it now - they didn't make enough home heating oil which will continue to keep gasoline supplies tight globally going into fall and winter.

It must be so nice to be an oil company. Can I start one? Oil 2.0?? Finished products are now fetching $25/bbl over crude vs around $10 last year. In other words, a barrel of gasoline this summer (42 gallons) costs about $100 this yr, vs about $75 last year for finished gasoline.

That's the definition for 'minting money'!

The bottom line for consumers is not good. Expect little relief at the gas pump, not only through the summer, but through the rest of your life.