Early 2008: U.S. analysts say crude oil costs higher
http://www.huanqiu.com 来源：新华网 网友评论条进入论坛 2008-01-04 09:36
BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Crude oil prices ended 2007 57 percent higher -- almost 96 U.S. dollars a barrel -- than where they started, leading U.S. analysts to predict geopolitical instability and rising demand will keep upward pressure on energy costs early in 2008.
"There's a good chance this week that we'll see some record highs," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill.
Oil reached a trading record of 99.29 dollars on Nov. 21, and, at the current price of 95.98 dollars, remains close to the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, 38 dollars a barrel then would be worth 96 dollars to 103 dollars or more today.
Crude futures averaged 72.41 dollars in 2007, compared with 66.25 dollars in 2006, and had their biggest percentage gain since 1999, when prices more than doubled to 25.60 dollars a barrel.
Crude futures skyrocketed in 2007 as demand from booming economies in Asia surged while American motorists continued to hit the road in record numbers, sending gas prices above 3 dollars a gallon for the third straight year.
Other factors influencing energy prices were the West's standoff with Iran over its nuclear program, attacks by Nigerian rebels on that oil-rich nation's crude infrastructure and Turkish attacks on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, which sparked concerns that the rebels would retaliate by attacking an oil pipeline.
The recent assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has exacerbated worries about global instability.
America's three largest oil companies, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips, had combined profits of 50.3 billion dollars in the first nine months of the year, a decline of 8.5 percent from a year earlier.
