Harry Krause wrote:


I posted a news article about fuel prices about, oh, a month or six
weeks ago, and you jumped on it as "political," Chuckster.


It might have been. Example: "Fuel prices are moving up so
Bush/Cheney's BIGOIL buddies can more effectively fund GOP political
campaigns this fall......." would have been political.

My observation that fuel prices bottoming out in November just
"happened" to coincide with election day doesn't promote or denigrate
any political cause, candidate, or philosophy. It's no different than
observing that interest rates usually drop in an election year.




Here's some more "good news."

Oil climbs back above $70 a barrel
Iran, Nigeria fears nudge prices higher

By Associated Press | August 31, 2006

NEW YORK -- Oil prices rose above $70 a barrel yesterday, as
persistently high fuel demand and concerns about possible supply
disruptions in the Middle East and Nigeria offset news of increasing US
inventories.

The higher finish came after prices had traded lower for most of the day.

Today marks the UN deadline for Iran, OPEC's number four producer, to
halt its nuclear program. If it doesn't comply, any UN sanctions could
provoke the country to retaliate by blocking exports.

Meanwhile, a possible strike by oil workers looms in Nigeria, the
fifth-largest supplier of oil to the United States.

Light sweet crude for October delivery rose 32 cents to settle at $70.03
a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as low as
$68.65 earlier in the day -- almost $10 below the record high of $78.40
a barrel reached July 14.

Yesterday's rise in crude futures ended two days of sharp drops that
brought them roughly 10 percent below their level of three weeks ago.

``Unless there's a major sea change in market, or unless you believe the
economy is going to collapse, you've got to believe the correction is
over," said Alaron Trading Corp. analyst Phil Flynn.

Gasoline futures rose 1.58 cents to $1.805 a gallon. Heating oil futures
rose 0.64 cent to $1.9496 a gallon.

Brent crude on London's ICE futures exchange rose 32 cents to settle at
$70.18 a barrel.

US crude inventories rose 2.4 million barrels to 332.8 million barrels
in the week ended Aug. 25, or 6.2 percent above year-ago levels, the EIA
said yesterday. Gasoline inventories rose 400,000 barrels to 206.2
million barrels, or 4.6 percent above last year's levels.

Distillate fuels rose 1.3 million barrels to 136.8 million barrels, with
just 300,000 barrels of the rise attributable to heating oil. Distillate
inventories are slightly below where they were last year.

The main reason crude inventories rose so much last week was because of
surging imports, not increased domestic production.

``The question is: Is that going to continue? More than likely, it'll be
a short-term phenomenon," Flynn said, noting those import levels are
difficult to maintain.

Furthermore, US demand for gasoline, diesel, and heating oil is still
going strong, as is jet fuel demand -- up 2.8 percent over the last four
weeks from last year, despite a thwarted terror attempt at a London
airport that some traders thought might deter travelers.