Oil back above $90 a barrel
Although it was below $87 a barrel this week, oil shot up to a record $92 a barrel this morning in Europe. Stephen Beard explores what's behind this latest spike.
TEXT OF STORY
Doug Krizner: It’s scary to consider how much we’ll soon be paying for things produced from crude oil. Gasoline and diesel, home heating oil, even plastic. This morning, crude jumped above $92 the barrel in London. We have more from Stephen Beard.
Stephen Beard: America’s new sanctions against Iran have helped push up the price of crude. The fear is that shipments from the world’s third-largest oil exporter could in time be cut.
But analysts say there’s another more immediate factor at work: Oil stockpiles are diminishing. U.S. inventories fell sharply last week.
Leo Drollas of the Center for Global Energy Studies says there’s now serious concern about supply:
Leo Drollas: When you add geopolitical tensions to that mix, you have $90 oil plus. And we could have more. If we have a cold spell, that could just add to the pressure.
But OPEC, which supplies 40 percent of the world’s oil, insists the price surge is caused by speculation. The cartel says it won’t pump any more crude beyond the small increase it’s planning next month.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.