Bob's Links and Rants

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Thursday, August 05, 2004

Another new high for oil

LONDON (Reuters) - World oil prices soared to new record highs on Thursday after the a decision by the Russian government to revoke oil major YUKOS' permit to use its bank accounts to finance operations put the company's crude exports under fresh threat.

U.S. crude jumped to an all-time high of $44.40 a barrel, standing $1.37 higher by 1630 GMT to $44.20. London Brent futures rose $1.52 to $41.22 a barrel -- also another record high.
Win-lose-win as far as I'm concerned. A win in the short term, because even though there are plenty of legitimate, intelligent reasons not to vote for Bush in November, a lot of Americans will decide based on the stupid reason of high gasoline costs. As oil prices go up, Bushes chances go down. Lose in the medium term, since my job at the U of M Transportation Research Institute is pretty closely tied to the auto industry. If we can't adjust our focus from safety to efficiency and alternative fuels quickly, we may not have many contracts to work on. But I'm flexible, and I don't need much--I'll get by. Win in the long term, since excessive oil use is killing us in many ways. The crisis is coming no matter what--the sooner its impact is recognized the less deadly that impact is likely to be.