Oil to jump to $US105
Oil to jump to $US105: analyst
April 01, 2005
From: Reuters
A LEADING investment bank has warned oil could hit $US105 per barrel, which would spread ruin through the US stock market, analysts said overnight.
Since the start of the year, oil has risen more than 25 per cent to near $US56 a barrel. Overnight, Goldman Sachs issued research saying oil markets have entered a "super-spike" period that could see prices go as high as $US105.
Goldman also raised its 2005 and 2006 New York Mercantile Exchange crude price forecasts to $US50 and $US55, respectively, from $US41 and $US40. A Reuters poll showed that analysts on average expected a mean price for 2005 of $US45.49 a barrel.
The analysts revised their super-spike range to $US50-$US105 per barrel from $US50-$US80 previously, noting demand and economic growth in the United States and China especially.
While oil companies benefit from rising crude prices, airlines have warned of fuel costs.
Airline industry analyst Robert Mann said the consequences of oil reaching $US105 would be so disastrous to the US economy that it is difficult to isolate the airline industry within that scenario.
"It's bigger than that," he said. "I think it would ruin the economy. It would be catastrophic."
However, Tom Bentz, an analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc., said $US100 oil "is possible, but anything is possible.
I hope its not a 1st of April joke...
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