Crude and Natural Gas Daily Information...

[sodbuster]

The Earthquake had both a Physical and Psychological impact on the market. The article below explains it very well.


"Oil fell below $100 a barrel in New
York for the first time in more than a week after Japan’s
strongest earthquake in at least a century forced refiners to
shut several processing plants."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-11/oil-plunges-as-japan-s-refiners-shut-plants-after-8-9-magnitude-earthquake.html

Thank you for the article. It did give me some insight and some numbers that I could "crunch" that confirmed my assumption that the majority of the decline in the price was due to psychological pressure.  Just trying to learn about commodities trading.

David

[Diane Amberg]

Isn't that called "headline reaction?"

[frawin]

Crude is trading down this morning at $96.85, down $4.35.


Oil fell to its lowest price in
almost three weeks in London as concern that damage from Japan’s
earthquake may limit crude demand outweighed speculation of
supply disruptions in the Middle East.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-15/crude-oil-drops-as-loss-of-demand-in-japan-outweighs-middle-east-tensions.html

[larryJ]

Same Shell station is now up .06 a gallon more than last Friday selling regular at $3.99 a gallon.  That is a .14 a gallon increase in one week.

Larryj

[jarhead]

Larry,
I guess I'll quit b#tching about the price of our gas. I think they are sticking it to you out west. Why is gas so much higher out your way ?

[Diane Amberg]

 Local taxes and more expensive formulation? I'm just guessing.

[frawin]

April Crude settled at $97.18, down $4.01 on the day. Crude was down $4.00+ all the way out in 2011 and 2012.

[larryJ]

Diane, you are spot on with your answer.  Although summer is not here yet, the oil companies will soon be telling us that they have to follow the law and reformulate the gas.  Southern California is ever so dependent on cars.  Freeway jams are as natural as water flowing under a bridge until it gets to the dam.  People here automatically add a half hour to their trip in anticipation of the traffic.  If there is no traffic, then you can have a Starbucks and relax.  The oil companies know they are going to get the price they want and they take full advantage of it until the politicians can't take the pressure from the people and start badgering the oil companies to cut some prices.  By the time that happens, billions of dollars are made.  Blame for high prices is thrown around.  The oil companies state they are losing money because of the price of oil or, they are selling it for such and such a price, it is the distributors who are making all the money, and they (distributors) say they have to raise their prices because the price of gas is high and they have to deliver the gas in those big tanker trucks.  Service station owners will tell you that they don't make any  money from gas sales, but rather from repairs, et cetera.  The last time a station owner told me that, I looked him straight in the eye and asked, "So I guess all those other stations that just sell gas and don't do repair work are going broke. Right?"  Or, why do we have (or use to have) two gas stations at every major intersection? 

Basically, all of us, not just in California, but all of us are being taken by the oil companies.  And if you believe that the oil companies are paying a higher price for crude, I have some ocean land somewhere not near an ocean for sale.  The oil companies, IMO, are elbow deep in cahoots with the countries that produce the oil.  They have been for many years and if they are not, then they made a huge mistake way back when by not getting their fingers into the pie. 

Sorry to rant.

Larryj

[frawin]

I wasn't going to respond to this but couldn't resist. On $4.00 Gasoline in California the tax is $0.654, I believe that is the highest or 2nd highest Gasoline tax in the Nation.

Larry,
I guess I'll quit b#tching about the price of our gas. I think they are sticking it to you out west. Why is gas so much higher out your way ?

Jarhead, California is the cause that their gasoline/Diesel is so high. Below is a quote from DOE/EIA on Californioa Gasoline. The American Oil companies lost the control of the price on Foreign oil with the 1973 Embargo.
"Why Are California Gasoline Prices More Variable Than Others?
California prices are higher and more variable than prices in other States because there are relatively few supply sources of its unique blend of gasoline outside the State. The State of California's reformulated gasoline program is more stringent than the Federal government's. In addition to the higher cost of this cleaner fuel, there is a State sales tax of 7.25% on top of an 18.4 cent-per-gallon Federal excise tax and an 18.0 cent-per-gallon State excise tax.

California Refineries Running Near Full Capacity to Meet Demand
California refineries need to be running near full capacity to meet the State's gasoline demand. If more than one of its refineries experiences operating problems at the same time, California's gasoline supply may become very tight and prices can soar. Even when supplies can be obtained from some Gulf Coast and foreign refineries, they can take a relatively long time to arrive due to California's substantial distance from those sources. The farther away the necessary relief supplies are, the higher and longer the price spike will be."

Quote from :Margaret Sheridan California Energy Commission:

"The supply of crude oil to California refineries has changed substantially in the
last 10 years. Most notably, receipts of foreign crude oil have increased as
production sources from California and Alaska have continued to decline."
Crude oil imported from countries with volatile political and social structures leaves
California vulnerable to changing world events. For example, attacks on Nigerian oil
industry personnel led to the recent shutdown of nearly 9 percent of Nigeria's total oil
production, which could impact global oil availability and increase feedstock costs for
California refineries. Also, the growing political tension between the U.S. and Iranian
governments over Iran's nuclear program could impact California's crude oil supply if
the U.S. decides to impose sanctions on Iran.

[frawin]

Wharton School of business has done exstensive research on the World Crude Oil Supply and pricing, if this works it will take you to their cureent comments:
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2732&sms_ss=email&at_xt=4d8176f5709e4d7a%2C0