June 9, 2008 5:34PM
Are We at Risk of a Global Recession Because of Oil?
By Alexis Glick
Global tension this weekend and a meeting by ministers from the G8 nations and China, India and South Korea, approximately 65% of the world’s oil demand all met on Sunday in Japan to address energy stability ahead of the G8 Summit in Japan in July. Did they accomplish anything? Not so according to many of the guests I talked to this morning. The good news though, the global community is talking about energy on a unified front. That cannot be a bad thing!
Speaking of the global community, are we at risk of a global recession due to rising oil prices? Does Saudia Arabia have the excess supply to curb demand? Can we read more into the angry rhetoric between Iran and Israel? Will there be more unrest in the Middle East? For that I called my FAVORITE oil guest on Friday and begged him to come in this morning, Vijay Vaitheeswaran, a global correspondent and energy expert at The Economist and John Bussey, the Wall Street Journal Washington, D.C. bureau chief. Look at what they had to say.
Comment by Ted McKeown
Jun 9th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I find it interesting that billionaire financier George Soros calls this OIL phenomena a Bubble when everyone else sees a sharp spike in oil prices. He believes there are lots of bubbles building in financial markets, and in OIL. To quote him he says “He believes better regulation is necessary to keep commodity prices at more reasonable levels.” That’s what I have also been saying. The government needs to step in and do something about commodities trading. First of all, OIL and Gas should not be traded like poker chips. The consequences of a mistake are far too grave. Look whats happening in Europe now withe strikes and protests etc. Imagine if the same thing happened here. To help make my point imagine if we traded wheat commodities and wheat jumped 100 percent so traders all jumped in and bought more driving the cost up even higher… soon the whole world would starve because wheat prices would skyrocket. There are probably controls on wheat trading so this can’t really happen but what about oil. Can Investors drive the price up indefinitly? What controls are in place to prevent a huge spike in prices on the NYMEX. Oil is a key commodity and it’s basic for the proper operation of commerce in America. For investers to gamble with this commodity in Futures speculation is very irrational and irresponsible. I firmly believe there needs to be safety controls in place to prevent greed driven spikes in prices on the commodities exchange the same as there were safety controls implimented after the great crash of the Thirty’s to prevent a bottoming out of stocks. It’s a big game to them… but if the rules of the game are flawed then accidents happen. A huge spike could take prices through the roof and this would not be good for for anyone except PERHAPS for the speculator involved. The Canadian Government is investigating this as we speak and rightly so. If other governments follow suit then futures traders may be forced to follow new rules of trading. Visit our website and take part in our gas poll on http://www.nbtv.ca
Comment by Chas
Jun 9th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
We are at risk because of wall street. They are the ones driving prices up. There is no shortage of oil.
Comment by jefro
Jun 9th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
No, not a recession as such. That implies a solution is near term. We could risk a total collapse of civilization unless demand is halted and new eco sources are used.
Comment by Bob
Jun 10th, 2008 at 3:31 am
Two words: Peak Oil
http://klintons.com
Comment by Nate B.
Jun 10th, 2008 at 8:16 am
It’s hard to read through these comments without smiling. Conspiracy theories, hatred of the markets, doom and gloom? WOW! The last person I want to hear from is George Soros. A man who made his fortune in currency markets, speculating and making profit. Nothing wrong with that. Congratulations to him for being a capitalist. But when he turns now and says that the markets need more regulation after he has already made his billions, I really start gritting my teeth.
THIS IS A GLOBAL MARKET! Creating more regulation (and higher taxes) completely drains our economy of productive and innovative people. THEY GO ELSEWHERE! Regulation only goes so far, and that is the US BORDER. Traders and investors will put their money to use in other exchanges and keep on making profit. It’s called capitalism. Oil is not a human right, wheat is not a human right, gold is not a human right. If you really can’t stand the price of oil, get a second job and invest in the futures market. Hedge against your cost for gas. Go look at your mutual fund. Go invest in “BIG OIL.” Do something productive instead of blaming people for making a profit. You have and should continue to have the complete right to do the same and don’t forget, bicycles are always a good investment.
Nate B.
Comment by Someone B. Sometime
Jun 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
People are starting to say anything that will make the market jump. Nothing is going on in the world that has not been going on for centuries even millennium. Peak Oil now is a joke. There are plenty of places to get oil just no one will allow these places to used. Oil has caused a slow down in the US’s Engineering into alternative energies. Great new advances into energies are about to be discovered and used…
Comment by Andrew
Jun 10th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Remember in 2000 when the California energy market was deregulated and prices skyrocketed 800% and the Bush administration said there was nothing that could be done about it. The markets do what they do and that is capitalism. The California was thrown into rolling blackouts and everyone suffered. Then a year later Enron imploded and all the corruption and manipulation came to light. Remember that? Well this oil robbery which is going on and has been for 8 years is the same thing. This is what happens when you deregulate. Everyone gets screwed. Regulation and oversight is the only way this robbery gets resolved. Don’t let anyone tell you prices are going up because of supply and demand. Prices are going up because of greed. Period. Time to open a giant can of regulation and restore order.
Comment by Ted McKeown
Jun 11th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
According to a government report announced today “U.S. oil inventories have been falling for weeks as refiners opted to use existing supplies instead of buying new barrels amid the crude market’s biggest bull run ever” That means there’s an oil in storage in the US. That would make sense because if you stop importing oil then supply goes down. It’s not rocket science. My question is why did they pick now to stop importing oil ???? It seems kind of stupid. But wait, maybe they’re not so stupid. They must have known that by making that announcement today it would drive prices even higher. Hmmmm… do I smell a rat? No denying. the government deliberately created this shortage of inventory. Why did they cut of our foriegn supply at a critical time when the consumer is worried about gas prices and the economy is unstable. They deliberately jeoprodised future supply of oil by allowing inventory to fall. Then just as it appears the oil bubble is about to burst they make this announcement which drives the price up again. That doesn’t sound very responsible. It almost sounds more like market manipulation to me. I admit, I am no expert but if they manipulte the supply then they can manipulate the price too.