*** BREAKING *** Oil SURGING in early morning trading. ***

Hi Folks,

I will be out most of the day but hopefully someone will pickup and run with this. Something is very very wrong. Currently on the trading floor oil is trading $89, however, Electronic Trading indicates $96 as of 7:57AM EST!!!

A $7 move is HUGE. This is completely unheard of. Additionally for some reason MarketWatch is NOT displaying the oil ticker, it is completely offline.

This may be hyperbole, and perhaps i'm blowing smoke, however this seems HIGHLY unusual to myself. We know the reasons behind it, however this *could* lead to a stock market collapse.

Oil (Light Crude)
April 2011 contract
$ / barrel Floor 89.71 0.00 0.00% 2:33pm ET
Electronic 96.11 +0.72 +0.75% 7:57am ET

(+0.75%? Someone definitely failed at math).

Good luck today all, fill up your tank NOW if possible, especially our UK friends, this could be the beginning of a long drawn out oil war.

It bears noting that the Alaska pipeline, which supplies the States with up to 12% of it's demand has been quietly pumping at 0 - 5% for about three weeks now. This is due to sinking into thawing permafrost and deterioration of the line due to age. Much of the line is underground. I have been shocked prices in the US haven't reflected this yet.

I was wondering why the US oil prices would have been affected so much by the crisis in Libya. I really do not know as much as I should about the markets and oil but I do remember the "experts" telling us that there is nothing to worry about when the protest in Egypt were happening.
Right now as I speak the price is at $95, and the "experts" are talking about how important and profitable Canadian gas is right now.

LewNi wrote:I was wondering why the US oil prices would have been affected so much by the crisis in Libya. I really do not know as much as I should about the markets and oil but I do remember the "experts" telling us that there is nothing to worry about when the protest in Egypt were happening.
Right now as I speak the price is at $95, and the "experts" are talking about how important and profitable Canadian gas is right now.

US oil production is currently at about 6.1 bbl/day, while consumption is around 21 bbl/day, which gives us a supply of roughly 30% of actual demand. Canada supplies the US with roughly 1.9-2.2 bbl/day, so around 11% of total U.S. imports of oil come from us. Mexico is close with 5% of exports.

With China's demand rising, it is impossible to continue down the path we are. As demands were changed in the early 20th century from steam to oil, now is the time for new innovation. While most realize this already and it is beating an already dead horse, it is "critical" to start makes changes now, otherwise we will face a complete halt of our modern-day lifestyle in the very near future.

Mass production of electric cars are extremely necessary, along with mass-rail modes of transportation between major cities (much more-so than exist today). If your interested, take a look at the following Wiki article : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_States .

Deep down I fear another "pearl harbor" only this time it will be China and not Japan. It is in the interest of humanity for us to develop alternative energies now. We need to tackle this issue with both hands, not merely a finger. Our failure to do so, will quickly escalate to "energy wars" of massive scale, that will make Iraq look like a ballet recital.

In light of the days events in the market my friend sent me this link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-23/euro-won-gain-on-outlook-for-rates-as-oil-rises-asian-stocks-fluctuate.html

I like Mr. Friedman's ideas:

If Not Now, When? By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: February 22, 2011

What’s unfolding in the Arab world today is the mother of all wake-up calls. And what the voice on the other end of the line is telling us is clear as a bell:

“America, you have built your house at the foot of a volcano. That volcano is now spewing lava from different cracks and is rumbling like it’s going to blow. Move your house!” In this case, “move your house” means “end your addiction to oil.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/opinion/23friedman.html?src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

We've got to do it sooner or later.

What an excellant article Joe. TY and it is so true

Oil is loving that $100 zone. Watching carefully, any break through the $100 level to $102-103, could trigger a huge move back to at least $110-120. The sky is the limit.

The stock market will continue to sell-off like mad as long as oil keeps rising. Folks, this is exactly what happened to kick-off the market decline of 2008 (prior to the September 2008 wall street fiasco).