Oil prices have dipped marginally after hitting all time highs of US$140 per barrel. The latest price surge can be attributed to a forecast by OPEC president that prices could soon surge as high as US$170 a barrel. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery settled at US$138.96. In London, the contract jumped 5.50 dollars to settle at an all-time closing peak of US$139.83 after striking an intraday record 140.56 dollars in frenzied trading.
Analysts have pinpointed to an inflow of investor funds as a cause for the dramatic rise in prices.The role of speculation in the crude oil rise is no longer contested because even US politicians were raising the matter. The House of Representatives has voted to order the United States energy market regulator (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) to immediately curb excessive energy market speculation.
27-Jun-08 
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