Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Price Gouging?
Part of the manufactured California energy "crisis" was shutting down power plants unexpectedly. By creating perceived instability, the energy providers raked in far greater profits that if they had run their plants normally.
Call me cynical, but I am having a feeling of deja vu all over again:
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Call me cynical, but I am having a feeling of deja vu all over again:
Oil prices leap, outage adds to fears
Tue May 10, 2005 11:38 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices leapt to more than $53 a barrel on Tuesday after news of a big refinery outage in the United States added to fears about a shortage of refined products and offset the impact of swelling crude supplies.
U.S. light crude was trading $1.02 higher at $53 a barrel. Brent crude oil in London gained $1.07 to $52.36.
News that ConocoPhillips' 250,000 barrels per day refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, was shut down because of a power outage added to the bullish mood. The refinery is one of the largest in the state and has gasoline-making capacity of 104,000 bpd. (Source: Reuters)
