why oil strike historic highs?
481293
There are a lot of events in the Middle East which cause oil prices hit the psychological level of 70 dollars .the main reason is \n"Geopolitics are riding the price" on the concern that Iran s nuclear row with U.S.  oil exports from the world s fouth-largest producer and as a major Nigerian supply outage dragged into a third month .stressing that there was no shortage of crude in the market . As there would not be any supply disruption from iran which pumps around 5 percent of the world oil.And who must take blame for that? its sure thats Bush!
1147879
Basically it comes down to supply and demand.  There is increasing demand for oil (mostly from developing countries like China and India, but demand in the US is increasing also).  OPEC is already producing near its capacity, coupled with no relatively new oil refineries having been built, this causes the an increasing demand against a slower (negligible) increase in supply of the refined oil used for gasoline.   Hurricane Katrina knocked out some production capacity which is still not completely up and running.  Also there are other less significant reasons such as the changing of fuel additives from mtbe to ethanol (this has been done for environmental reasons).  To put a few non-truths to bed...  The oil companies were NOT found to be doing any price gouging (illegally increasing prices beyond unreasonable economic fundamentals).  Second, everyone wants to blame President Bush for increasing prices when in fact he no longer has any personal investments in oil companies(he did this specifically to discredit these accusation most likely); in fact President Bush has probably more to lose from high oil prices than any other single individual alive.  He wants a strong economy, with little inflation and needs that help for party elections this fall.  If you want a specific group of people to blame, you should look at commodity traders themselves, they are the ones who control the international price changes from day to day and are the ones who fear supply disruptions (such as the one that occured in Africa, threats from Iran and Venezuela recently) and terrorists act which affect the flow of oil (the so called terror premium).
480998
They're high.  But I think don't think we're in the "too high" range yet.  That'll probably be this summer and the year after.  We're still around 80% of the all time high for gas compared to the oil crisis we had years ago.
965674
The global economy is heading into a period called PEAK OIL. This means that we've reached the halfway point in terms of oil production. While there is still roughly 1 trillion barrels of oil left we will enter a period of declining returns. This means that once we reach the peak (nowish, 2010 at the longest) the world will pump out steadily less and less oil every year. This is catastrophic and will shake the foundations of our economy. We need approx 86million B of oil per day. This number gets higher and higher every year as the global economy expands, particularly with the white hot growth and demand from China and India. Pruduction will fall and demand will go up. Prices will skyrocket and there will be shortfalls as the gap widens between the oil available and demand for it. We have already seen the price of oil skyrocket from the low teens a few years back to close to 80. Its happening.\n\nWho will get the oil? The US reached their peak way back in 1970 and have steadily declined since. Now they are importing oil at increasing rates. They are aware of peak oil and need to secure sources for the future. They've done this by force. They are currently building massive military bases in the 2 best areas for oil reserves. (Approx 14 permanent massive bases in Iraq)The middle east, and Afghanistan which is on the doorstep of central asia where massive reserves are located. \n\nThis is why Iraq and Afghanistan were invaded. The US will be able to determine who gets whats left of the most valuable resource on the planet as oil reserves hit a steady decline. The rest is smoke and mirrors.\n\n-could the person that gave me a thumb down. Please post an intelligent rebuttal rather than a thumb down. I'm am shocked at how any educated person could have read what I wrote, then briefly pause in thought before clicking on 'thumb down?!?'
610032
you must remember that developing nations like china and india are consuming more and more oil, just like the united states\n\nprices will keep going up..
581781
There is NOT a supply shortage. Even OPEC and Saudi Arabia are saying there's no shortage. They are saying the gas prices should not be anywhere near as high as they are. What's raising the cost is that oil companies are gouging everyone because they basically have a collective monopoly, even though they're supposed to be in competition with each other. That's why oil companies keep scoring record profits each year while average Americans are getting poorer.
223454
The guesses vary wildly, because there are so many factors.\n\n1. You never know what natural disasters can shoot up oil prices like crazy\n\n2. OPEC is about as unpredictable as the weather itself. Read about it at http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/OPEC\n\n3. There of course are the questions about the oil in Iraq and Alaska \n\n4. There are new alternative fuels being developed; when they are improved, since demand for oil goes down, the prices do too (See the law of supply and demand, http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Supply_and_demand ). A brief description of alternative fuel and a few examples can be found at http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Alternative_fuel . \n\n5. Also keep in mind the possibility of using oil shale, a topic that pokes up from time to time. Read about oil shale here: http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Oil_shale\n\nUsually at the end of an answer I say something like "Good Luck and hope this helps" but I'm fairly sure I just made your job harder and a bit more confusing so...\n\nGood Luck and sorry that this probably didn't help.
470657
The perfect Geological combination of source material, good reservoir rock and a good seal material along with the right conditions for the organic material to mature and produce the oil.  Actually has nothing to do with current geography as all this happened millions of years ago when Saudi was seabed.\n\nThe supergiant Gehwar field initially contained (depending on what figures you read) 25% of all the oil on the planet. It alone accounts for the bulk of the worlds daily production of oil, so when it runs out which it will one day the impact will be felt around the world.
365479
At some point (are we already there?) we will hit what is called peak oil, meaning we will pump more oil that year than was ever pumped or will ever be again.  Then, unfortunately, things will get scary as we are compteting with India and China for oil.  What happens if China makes a move on the oil fields in the middle east?  Are we going to go to war for it?  This doesn't have to come about if our government actually plans for this by funding research into alternative fuel sources.  We can't wait for government, though.  We can change the way we live - enough with the SUVs, turn your heat down, ride (God forbid, if you're an American!) your bike to the store, ect.  Small changes can actually add up if we all do it...or even if 10% of us do.  The key is starting now...not when its already a crisis.
342689
its a joke. they should have portest for the high gas prices. shell and the others are having record 30 billion + profits.
43848
Futures and Options are high risk, complex investments. If you need to ask, you are not qualified.\n\nStudy up on options. Consider other ways to benefit from rising oil prices: alternative energy, hybrid cars, etc.\n\nUse at your own risk. Talk to your financial advisor.
379420
Mostly because of taxation. Because they have different values and mentality in these countries but it can also be affected by availability of oil in the area.
1002698
The thing is the oil compagnies don't want to lose money so they brainwash people into thinking the alternative isn't any good.\nMeanwhile the others are  powerless.\n(The Oil compagnies are more powerful than the latter)
653400
because they keep attacking countries that are rich in oil. when they say (example Operation Iraqi Liberation) it simply means'oil', they attack so they can steal other countries oil.
503007
Of course the main issue is and always will be competition. But as a product standpoint it would have to be rising manufacturing, shipping, and product costs due to the increase in energy prices.  Oil is used in more than just vehicles; it's used in many products or the manufacturing of them.  We have already seen the increase of "Oil" not only in our fuels but in consumer price index that rose last week.  It's a trend that will not fall until alternative energy sources are more widely embraced by the market.
797611
Big oil will do anything to stifle new energies. Corruption, pay-offs, bribes to Congressmen, etc.\n\nThe need for new energy sources are increasing by the day.
562396
Bush and the oil companies record profits. If there wasn't record profits there wouldn't be any problem. They are gouging America, and Bush is allowing it to happen.