Supply Down, Oil Up. Supply Up, Oil . . Up [Redux]

Graeme Weardon/Guardian: Oil prices: George Soros warns that speculators could trigger stock market crash The Financial Times reported today that Soros will tell the US Senate commerce committee that oil was pushed to its recent all-time peak of $135 a barrel by a new wave of speculators. [Also see: Les Blumenthal/McClatchy] According to testimony in Cantwell's hearing this morning (check C-SPAN for details), these guys have cost the economy $500 billion. Guess that means guys like Soros have already fleeced the markets, and are coming forward now only because they don't want to take a loss? :: :: :: Image © Farid/Dartmouth.edu :: :: :: Previous Update:

"This is all about psychology, and we are not very good at oil companies about forecasting the psychology of prices," Jeroen van der Veer, CEO of global giant Royal Dutch/Shell, said on CNBC Thursday. “So we'd better prepare ourselves for more volatility because if this is psychology, it can change very quickly.”

As always the mini-driver here is a case of fear and smoking - those terrible "unknown knowns" - that cause otherwise rational people to not only believe pigs fly, but to insist they are in fact bionic UAVs controlled by megalomaniacal desert-dwelling evangalistas bent on world domination. Who knew? :: :: :: GulfNews: Oil prices surge above $135 a barrel . . . prompted by a surprise drop in projected U.S. crude oil stocks and a weaker dollar. Reuters: Opec supply could rise by 700,000 bpd this month Record-high crude prices have nothing to do with supply and demand but rather are caused by speculation and a weak dollar . . . Welcome to the world of 'market steganography''. Not a pretty picture. :: :: ::