Oil prices rose in response to a cut in interest rates in the US, a move that could accelerate growth and increase demand for already tight crude and gasoline supplies.
Seems as if it's a bad time for an unnamed tropical disturbance to develop off the coast of Florida.
It sure is. Oil producers have already shut down production in the Gulf of Mexico in anticipation that the storm will gain strength when it reaches the warmer Gulf waters. Despite all the trouble that was caused by Hurricane Katrina two years ago, no one has figured out yet how to address a major U.S. vulnerability: The storm-prone Gulf is home to about 25 percent of U.S. oil production and half the nation's refining capacity. A storm-induced shortage, coming on top of market mayhem, on top of an already precarious global oil picture, would push oil closer and closer to that all-time inflation-adjusted record. In the oil market, it's feeling a lot like 1981.
