Oil Prices Surge at Year’s End

Oil Prices High

For only the second time in nearly 30 years, oil prices closed out the year above the $90 mark. While not the $130 plus per barrel prices of a few years ago when speculation sent prices out of control and the economy into a tailspin, the price of a barrel of oil did close out the year very close to its 2 year high of just over $92.

On the Gulf Coast of the U.S., the oil refiners are taxing advantage of a tax break by cutting inventory at the end of the year. As a result, the supply of oil from the area is down by as much as 12 percent.

As for the future, the analysts are somewhat split as to the direction that prices will take.  But forecasters to agree that demand in the U.S. will continue to grow by just under one percent for the new year to just over 19 million barrels per day.