Articles Tagged "drop"

Benchmark:South of US$60

It is obvious that a barrel price below $60 on the NYMEX is bad news for oil companies. Part of the drop reflects a strengthening American dollar, but recent demand forecast revisions are bleak. Governments, companies and investors think a prolonged recession or period of low growth is in the offing, and everyone should take note.

Benchmark: Things fall apart?

Along with OPEC production cuts and healthy company numbers, (both discussed below) the market is clearly disjointed. The tenor of discussions in the business pages and networks lately suggests that Yeats was right, and the centre cannot hold. Recession or recovery, echo boom or bust, few are predicting prolonged instability somewhere between these extremes.

Benchmark: Troubled waters

Another rough day for investors this Monday. As it became clear that the American House of Representatives would reject the authorization law for the executive’s $700 billion financial sector bailout plan, commodities began to tank. Oil futures shed more than $10 of their value during the day, dropping to $96.37 per barrel.

Benchmark: Focus on Ike and Nigeria

Though ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Placid Refining Company are both receiving hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude from America’s federal reserves to continue refinery operations, and two rigs in the Gulf have been knocked adrift, the overall impact of Ike appears fairly benevolent to energy companies.