综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

   

Oil hits $104 as OPEC rebuffs Bush

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-06 11:38

Oil prices reached a record close, surging above $104 after OPEC decided Wednesday to keep its production unchanged. The cartel ignored calls from US President George W Bush to pump more oil into an ailing American economy.

Chakib Khelil, OPEC's president, said at a meeting in Vienna that the high price of oil was not due to a lack of supplies. Instead, he cited the "mismanagement of the US economy."

But the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was not completely oblivious to the political and economic impact of $100 oil. The sharp surge in prices recently has deterred the group's ministers from cutting their production.

Related readings:
 OPEC keeps oil output steady
 Oil surpasses $103 for first time
 Crude oil rises past $102 mark
 OPEC rejects call for higher output

With the United States economy slowing down, oil prices have risen sharply as investors seek refuge in commodities like oil and other hard assets to offset the drop in the value of the dollar and hedge against inflation.

Oil futures settled at $104.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $5 on the day. The spike came after United States fuel inventories unexpectedly declined while tensions escalated between Venezuela, an OPEC member, and Colombia.

The close exceeded the inflation-adjusted record of $103.76 -- $39.50 at the time -- set in April 1980 during the second oil shock.

As prices have risen in recent years, relations between energy producers and their consumers have been increasingly acrimonious. Oil producers are seeking better terms for their dealings with foreign oil companies, and often restricting access to investments. OPEC ministers are also increasingly confident in their ability to prevent prices from falling below $80 a barrel.

As a sign of growing impatience with oil producers, President Bush said on Tuesday that it would be a "mistake" for OPEC not to increase supplies. As the oil group was meeting in Vienna, the president repeated his assault on Wednesday, saying it was "obvious" that demand was stripping supplies, and pushing up prices.

"America's got to change its habits; we've got to get off oil," President Bush said at a conference on renewable fuels. "Until we change our habits, there's going to be more dependency on oil."



Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
讷河市| 墨江| 安化县| 沛县| 昭平县| 长汀县| 民勤县| 运城市| 祁阳县| 沾益县| 施甸县| 明光市| 嘉义市| 河池市| 周宁县| 泽州县| 宜都市| 千阳县| 论坛| 昌图县| 舞阳县| 安塞县| 班玛县| 潼关县| 宜宾县| 长武县| 仁化县| 邵阳县| 柘荣县| 临城县| 河源市| 公主岭市| 手游| 信阳市| 宁蒗| 定陶县| 咸宁市| 卓资县| 陵川县| 临武县| 克拉玛依市|