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World Events To Push Pump Prices Much Higher

January 29, 2006

• Why Are Oil Prices Falling? • Labor Day Gas Prices Up a Penny • Gas Prices Fall for 37 Days • Gas Prices Slide 8 Percent from Record • Gas Prices Creep Down • Oil Price Trend May Be Good News For Consumers • Gasoline Drops Below $3.90 a Gallon • Gas Prices Pull Back Slowly • Oil Prices Fall As Storm Misses Rigs • Latest Gas Price Round-Up • 'Run Your Car On Water' Scheme Could Leave Consumers All Wet • Unregulated Energy Trading Blamed for Much of Gas Price Gusher • Airlines Join Effort To Limit Oil Speculators • Questions Raised about MyGallons.com • 'Hypermiling' Is Dangerous, Says AAA • Struggling Drivers Blame Washington for High Gas Prices • What’s Really Fueling Those Sky-High Oil Prices • Credit Card Fees at the Pump are a 'Hidden Tax' on Consumers • Survey: 3 Out of 4 Angry About High Gas Prices • $2 A Gallon Gas Possible, Analysts Tell Congress • Speculators Buy More Oil Contracts Than Oil Companies • Saudis to Pump More Oil • Limiting Oil Speculators Gains Ground • Congress To Probe Oil Price Spike • Oil Market 'Saturated,' Iran Claims • Feds See No Relief from High Gas Prices • High Gas Prices Could Mean Lower Insurance Rates • High Gas Prices Good For Kia, Honda • Gas Prices Rip Past $4 and Keep Climbing • Administration, OPEC See Different Causes Of Oil Surge • Feds Probing Possible Oil Market Manipulation • Beware of Fuel Sippers Sipping High-Test • Retailers Respond to High Gas Prices with Discounts, Promotions • Rushing Into a Smaller Car Too Soon May Not Save Money • Hybrid Sales and Prices Climb in Lockstep with Gas Prices • Truckers Bemoan Burden of High Diesel Costs • Gas Prices Biting into Worker Productivity • Consumers Warned About Gas-Saving Schemes • Is Tony Soprano Controlling Gas Prices? • Oil & Gas: The New Bubble • Critics: New Federal Gas Mileage Standard Falls Short • Consumers Feeling Pain of Skyrocketing Gas Prices • New Gas Price Record Forecasts Expensive Summer Driving Season --- • More ...

Political trouble in Iran and Nigeria could come to a head this week, oil analysts say, resulting in a huge jump in the price of crude. If oil prices rise past $90 a barrel, as some say is possible, U.S. gasoline prices would quickly get back to the record levels they achieved in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina.

Iran is the focal point this week, as the International Atomic Energy Agency meetings on Thursday to decide whether to refer the country to the United Nations Security Council for punitive action for its nuclear program.

Iran has threatened to retaliate against the world by temporarily stopping its oil flow, which amounts to about five percent of the world's supply.

Oil prices closed Friday at $67.76 in New York, and traders say another 20 percent jump is possible if Iran carries through on its threat of a complete shut down. With little supply cushion, nations would quickly bid up the price on world markets.

To make matters more bleak for consumers, Iran is not the only geopolitical crisis that could impact oil prices. There is a growing rebellion in the oil-rich nation of Nigeria, which is also a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties. So far, Nigeria has been forced to cut its oil output by 200,000 barrels a day.

Consumers shouldn't expect other OPEC nations to step in and make up the shortfall. While other countries could, in fact, make up much of the difference, there appears little inclination to do so. OPEC President Edmund Daukoru told the Reuters news agency last week OPEC does not see a role for itself in this drama.

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