The cost of imported goods rose again in September largely because of higher oil prices, adding to a surge in U.S. inflation that’s the biggest in decades. The U.S. import price index climbed 0.4% last month, the government said Friday, reversing a decline in August that was the first in 10 months. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.5% increase.
Oil prices climb, with WTI crude poised for an 8th straight weekly gain
Oil prices extended their rise to multiyear highs on Friday, with U.S. benchmark crude on track to score an eighth weekly gain in a row, finding support from expectations that global power producers will look to oil amid a shortage of natural gas and coal. Natural-gas futures , meanwhile, looked to give back Thursday’s gain and then some, with prices down by nearly 3% in Friday dealings — pulling prices down for the week. “A massive shortage of coal and natural gas in Asia and Europe has left the power plants reluctantly having to choose crude oil over natural gas — a pattern not seen for at least a decade,” said Manish Raj, said chief financial officer at Velandera Energy Partners. “This is a stark reversal of the forgone conclusion of natural gas being the preferred fuel for power generation worldwide.,” he said. “The current trend is so astonishing that energy analysts had even stopped modeling the possibility of using crude oil for power generation; yet here we are amidst this energy crisis.” And “the increased oil demand from power producers further squeezes the already tight crude supplies,” said Raj. NN: This argument that the only alternative is oil is bogus. As we speak they are restarting nuclear. To get coal from a mine especially a strip mine is start digging. Their are a hell of a lot of mothballed nuclear plants and coal fired power plants. Converting to oil is very difficult. Besides how do you get high prices lower. Keep the price high to long. Natural gas at these level will bring in a tidal wave of gas. And its their ready to ship anywhere you want it.