FinlayZJ said:False. OPEC is not concerned. Saudia Arabia is. The other 10 countries see only $$$$ as they charge over $40 a barrel. Iran said it will back a "usual" bpd increase. But no one knows what "usual" means. The head of a major oil refinery (Valeco or something, I can't remember exactly) stated that about $5 of the barrel cost increase is due to our media spinning everything out of control. Every "analyst" thinking that gas will run out next month, no next week, no tonight at 6:00 write an article. They all think they know it all, write an article, the media picks it up and then the hype is on, driving prices up. Saudia Arabia said there is no reason to drive prices this high, and the rest of OPEC said tough cookies. They even said SA's extra 1.5 million bpd wont affect barrel cost, even though it should. Another major reason for this is the fact that OPEC stands to make millions because they agreed on these outputs a year or so ago, before the Chinese went oil crazy (along with steel). So the quotas are being pressed by the Chinese, increasing price here in the states. And due to the horrid public transportation in 99% of America, the oil companies are finding out they can charge whatever they want and we will pay it. However, some companies are starting to see the slow down in our economy as we lose $$ to pump prices, and steal from other things we would have purchased. OPEC announced today they expect $40+ barrel's to be the norm for a good long while. The also scorned Saudia Arabia for wanting to drop barrel price down the $35. Just give it time, the world economy will start to collapse, and barrel price will crash down to $20 or less, just like it did last time OPEC did this. Only SA sees it's going to happen and is trying to prevent it.
Yup, get ready for a double dip resession. Presedent Bush didn't help by adding more instability to the Middle East. What happened to this "war for oil"? I thought the war in Iraq was going to make gas cheaper than water