Oil Industry Headlines: Week of March 8
Crude oil prices hit $110.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange last Wednesday, setting the eleventh record high over the last twelve trading sessions. According to Yahoo News, Barclays capital analysts say “The powerful upsurge in oil prices show little signs of abating.” Slackening demand in the U.S. may do little to bring prices down, say analysts, because exponential growth in emerging economies such as China and India are likely to “soak up” demand.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon is facing a difficult road ahead in his effort to pave the way for private investment in the country’s state-owned oil company, PEMEX. “Calderon lacks a majority in Congress,” reports Reuters. “With leftists opposing private partnerships in oil, he needs the PRI’s (Institutional Revolutionary Party) full backing to bring foreign partners into the oil sector.” Decades of underinvestment have left PEMEX without funds needed to drill deepwater wells, which account for the majority of Mexico’s untapped reserves.
Published Friday, March 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm and filed under Industry News.