OIL HITS $100 PER BARREL

I think this is a case of OPEC pulling the world's chain by making a prediction sure to upset the global traders and drive up oil prices. This way they can blame the speculators and come off as innocent merchants: "Long-term fears stemmed from a report that OPEC believes it won't be able to meet global demand by 2024."

Really? 2024? So what. Prices fluxuat hourly as it is and any "prediction" out to 2024 is just bullcrap.

It’s high time we tell the tree huggers to put a sock in it and get on with recovering the vast oil reserves in Alaska and the Rocky mountains, and allow the oil companies to build more refinery capacity. We also need to open up offshore drilling before the Cubans steal all the oil off the Florida coast we are not allowed to recover.
FROM FOXBUSINESS.COM:
Oil Futures Hit $100 a Barrel in Intraday Trading
Dunstan Prial mailto:feedback@foxbusiness.com
FOXBusiness
The price of oil hit $100 a barrel for the first time ever in intraday trading Wednesday, prompted by a mix of long-term fears that supply will not meet demand and more immediate concerns of turmoil in oil producing nations.
Speculation by oil traders is also believed to have contributed to the historic run up.
In response, the White House issued a call for an increase in the production of domestic oil, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
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The Dow Jones Industrial average plummeted more than 200 points on news that oil had hit the psychologically important milestone. Light sweet crude for January delivery rose $4.02 to $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to a Nymex spokeswoman. The price later fell to $99.15.
Long-term fears stemmed from a report that OPEC believes it won't be able to meet global demand by 2024.
Surging economies in China and India-- fed by oil and gasoline-- have sent prices soaring over the past year, while tensions in oil-producing nations like Nigeria and Iran have increasingly made investors nervous and invited speculators to drive prices even higher.
In Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, bands of armed men invaded Port Harcourt, the center of the oil industry Tuesday, attacking two police stations and raiding the lobby of a major hotel, according to the Associated Press.

“Although the violence has not impacted oil flow out of the country, it has reignited supply concerns as militant attacks have reduced Nigeria's crude output by roughly 20% since 2006," said John Gerdes, an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in a research note.
In addition, several Mexican oil exporters were forced to close Wednesday due to rough weather, which pushed prices higher.