Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman rejected a call by some members of Congress to release oil from the government’s emergency stockpile — the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
He said the oil is needed to respond to future supply emergencies and not to influence prices.
Bodman also said at a House hearing that he does not believe that rampant market [...]

UBS Investment Research raised its price forecast for West Texas crude and Brent “a lot.” UBS now expects West Texas crude to average $115 a barrel this year, $120 in 2009 and $116 in 2010 — increases of 32 percent, 54 percent and 53 percent above its previous outlook.
UBS sees Brent crude at $113.50 a [...]

Crude prices spiked to a yet another trading high, as supply concerns mounted and traders poured in for a last-minute buying binge before June contracts expired. At filling stations across the country, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline approached $4, touching $3.80 for the first time.
The June contract for light, sweet [...]

Crude oil prices rose in New York, a day after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said production levels wouldn’t increase before September.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s minister of energy and mines, said the major exporting group would keep production at current levels.
Saudi Arabia recently increased production by 300,000 barrels a day, which [...]

Oil futures ended a whipsaw session slightly lower, as the expiration of options played havoc with prices, driving crude near record high levels at times and down by more than $3 a barrel at others. Retail gas prices, meanwhile, advanced past $3.77 a gallon.
Options let investors bet oil prices will rise or fall in the [...]

World oil prices eased further on Tuesday, trading near 123 dollars a barrel as profit taking helped to cool a red-hot market, analysts said.
Crude oil prices have more than doubled in the past year and rocketed about 25 percent since the start of 2008, when they broke the 100-dollar barrier.
“Oil prices have simply risen too [...]

Crude oil prices climbed to within a penny of $114 a barrel, setting new records as concerns mounted about global supplies.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose as high as $113.99 a barrel for the first time on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling at $113.79, up $2.03 from Monday’s record settlement price of [...]

Asia faces the threat of higher inflation, slower growth and tougher times for exporters after oil prices hit new highs and the dollar plunged last week.
Farmers, miners and oil companies could benefit from high commodity prices. But most of Asia is dependent on imported energy and raw materials, and even some oil-exporting countries such as [...]

World markets saw another day of turmoil and investor jitters Monday as Asian shares plunged, oil hit a fresh high and the dollar fell to a new bottom after the near-collapse of US bank Bear Stearns.
Dealers said an emergency cut by the US Federal Reserve to its discount rate and a weekend deal for JPMorgan [...]

Skyrocketing oil prices are likely to curtail demand, a refining industry veteran said Wednesday.
“I think the price is going to mitigate consumption,” Tom O’Malley, chairman of Swiss refiner Petroplus A.G., told an industry conference here.
Price is the biggest single lever moving the market, he said.
A recession, which O’Malley said has already begun in the U.S., [...]