Oil falls nearly $5 as China hikes fuel prices

Oil falls nearly $5 as China hikes fuel prices

www.forbes.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil plunged nearly $5 Thursday after China announced it will raise domestic fuel prices, a move likely to curb demand in the world's second largest consumer.

U.S. crude settled down $4.75 at $131.93 a barrel, while London's Brent crude dropped $4.44 to end at $132.00 a barrel.

China announced a surprise increase of about 18 percent in retail gasoline and diesel prices, effective Friday, state media said, the first rise in Chinese fuel prices in eight months.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.bloomberg.com
money.cnn.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
These steps could lower oil prices, but nobody'll take them

Hmm. Good news for americans! Why go after oil speculators when you can mess with their heads... 18% is definitely fairly significant. I wonder though if there wasn't some insider negotiations between the US and China??

Check this out!

Did the US release an asset freeze on this Chinese company in exchange for cooperation from Chinese officials to help ease oil prices?

www.forbes.com (visit the link for the full news article)

Interesting thesis there scramjet. Skeletor...uh I mean Paulson did just return from China.

Imagine, a country decreases the amount it subsidizes fuel for its population and the price of oil drops almost immediately. Imagine if all subsidies were scrapped world wide on agriculture and oil.

I guess just more proof that these oil prices are really driven skyward by these darn "speculators." What we need is for them to start "speculating" that oil will soon be a thing of the past (as newer technologies emerge) and the price will come down even more?

Hmm for some reason the link to that site is being funny... here is a different link: U.S. Treasury lifts sanctions on Chinese firm

WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday lifted financial sanctions against a Chinese aerospace firm that were imposed two years ago for supplying components to Iran's ballistic missile development program.

Coincidence?

On the other hand, the price as already rebounded some due to longterm speculation on lower interest rates and a weaker dollar.

edit: added barf face

[edit on 20-6-2008 by Scramjet76]

i wonder if the USA will do the same ; raise domestic fuel prices in an effort to combat oil use?

reply to post by Harlequin


Not if the politcians want to stay in power.

Apparently India also raised fuel prices not long ago.. I guess nothing is going to change unless we make a serious effort to use other energy sources.

Originally posted by Scramjet76
Apparently India also raised fuel prices not long ago.. I guess nothing is going to change unless we make a serious effort to use other energy sources.

Either that or we put the screws to Congress to start building new refineries, opening up new drilling and shale recovery operations, AND place strict regulations on the oil futures market. Actually that solution would be by far the more economically feasible from the average American's standpoint.

Originally posted by Harlequin
i wonder if the USA will do the same ; raise domestic fuel prices in an effort to combat oil use?

We don't subsidize fuel, the only thing we could do is raise taxes on gasoline. Personally, I think we should give 100% tax exemption for oil companies if they use the money they didn't have to pay in taxes to invest in alternative fuels and put hydrogen pumps in at least 75% of their franchised and owned stations within a 5 year time frame and the same would go with American automotive companies...100% tax exemption if they used that money to build a hydrogen based fleet....problem solved. Of course that will never happen, because Congress wants to control everything...my solution would allow the free market to work it's magic. We would save more money to lower out trade deficit (probably eliminating it completely in a 10 year time frame) than we would have taken in on tax revenue.

[edit on 20-6-2008 by yellowcard]

reply to post by yellowcard


The oil companies already get a massive tax break on many levels. The only thing a 100% tax break would do is make them even richer and greedier.... if thats even possible.

Also, the oil companies own hardly any gas stations anymore. Shell sold all theirs already and Exxon most recently did as well.

abcnews.go.com...











[edit on 20-6-2008 by zarlaan]

Originally posted by zarlaan
reply to post by yellowcard

 

The oil companies already get a massive tax break on many levels. The only thing a 100% tax break would do is make them even richer and greedier.... if thats even possible.

Not if you only give them the tax break if they show through their public financial reports (monitored by the FCC) that they are spending the percentage that would have otherwise been tax revenue on what I have stated. The oil companies aren't as evil as you're making them out to be, if you want to blame anyone for our ills, blame Congress.

Originally posted by zarlaan
reply to post by yellowcard

 

Also, the oil companies own hardly any gas stations anymore. Shell sold all theirs already and Exxon most recently did as well.

That's why I said "franchised"; McDonalds and other restaurant chains hardly own any store either, they simply supply it with food and give it a logo....while the owner pays for those rights.

[edit on 20-6-2008 by yellowcard]

Originally posted by burdman30ott6

Originally posted by Scramjet76
Apparently India also raised fuel prices not long ago.. I guess nothing is going to change unless we make a serious effort to use other energy sources.

Either that or we put the screws to Congress to start building new refineries, opening up new drilling and shale recovery operations, AND place strict regulations on the oil futures market. Actually that solution would be by far the more economically feasible from the average American's standpoint.

I'm with you on that! It seems ludicrous to depend on foreign oil. We have our own sources right here.