Maybe this deserves a topic of its
own....
"The benchmark for crude oil
prices is West Texas Intermediate, drilled exactly where you would
imagine. That's the price, set at the New York Mercantile Exchange,
that you see quoted on business channels and in the morning
paper.
Right now, in an unusual
market trend, West Texas crude is selling for much less than
inferior grades of crude from other places around the world. A
severe economic downturn has left U.S. storage facilities brimming
with it, sending prices for the premium crude to five-year
lows.
But it is the overseas crude that goes into most of the gas made in
the United States. So prices at the pump will probably keep going
up no matter what happens to the benchmark price of crude oil.
"We're going definitely
over $2, and I bet we'll hit $2.50 before spring," said Tom Kloza,
publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.
"This is going to be an unusual year."
Inflationary pressures, is it coming and what are
the consequences to the Red Dot?
