Oil prices continue to rise despite recession - good news for domestic producers. This from NPR:
Despite Relatively Low Demand, Oil Prices Spike
by Tom Gjelten
All Things Considered, June 19, 2009 · The price of oil this week has been hovering around $70 a barrel, down from last week but twice what it was just three months ago. ...
AAA says the average price of gasoline around the country is now $2.69 a gallon, up 36 cents a gallon just in the past month. But there is something strange about these price increases: Market analysts say the demand for oil is largely unchanged.
Oil As 'Alternative Investment'
The more people use oil, the more the price goes up. When supplies are limited, the price goes up even more. In the oil market, however, the law of supply and demand is just one of the factors affecting the price. For one thing, it is not just the users of oil who buy it; it's also people who play the market.
"This has much more to do with oil seen almost as an alternative investment," says Daniel Yergin, chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
In part, oil investors figure that even if the demand for oil isn't all that high now, it is likely to grow in coming months...
