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INSTANT VIEW: Oil Hits Record High of $100 a Barrel | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S crude oil prices CLc1 hit an all-time high of $100 a barrel for the first time on Wednesday.

COMMENTS

ADRIAN MASTRACCI, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, KCM WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC,

VANCOUVER

“It’s a net positive for the Canadian economy, but of course our (dollar’s) gone up and we get paid in U.S. dollars so we don’t get as many Canadian loonies as we did before … When the loonie was 85 U.S. cents and oil was $85, it was the same as now just because of the translation.”

PETER BEUTEL, ANALYST AT CAMERON HANOVER

“It’s a good headline. But all of the factors that pushed us above $80 are now moving us higher … Until we get more supply or demand starts to take a hit, there is no reason we can’t see any number.”

SHOKRI GHANEM, LIBYA’S TOP OIL OFFICIAL

“The age of cheap oil is not there any more.

“What we need to do to try to get more oil is to get more investment. We should encourage investment and avoid this policy of boycotts and sanctions applied by big countries. Also, bring peace to the areas where there is fighting an injustice in the Middle East.”

ZACHARY OXMAN, SENIOR TRADER, WISDOM FINANCIAL, NEWPORT BEACH,

CALIFORNIA:

“$100 is just the beginning … This is kicking off what you are going to see this year: There will be huge moves up in gold, and huge moves up in crude.”

ERNIE ANKRIM, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST FOR RUSSELL INVESTMENT

GROUP, TACOMA, WASHINGTON:

“I think oil going to $100 is more a function of political instability. In this case it’s Nigeria. For the stock market, there might also be a psychological effect of oil hitting triple digits.”

DIDIER HOUSSIN, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE FOR OIL MARKETS,

INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY

“For the moment it’s hard to jump to conclusions and we had foreseen this could happen for a while … The price is not necessarily meaningful at this stage.”

STEPHEN SCHORK, EDITOR, THE SCHORK REPORT, PHILADELPHIA,

PENNSYLVANIA:

“It’s a tremendous psychological achievement that in and of itself is not an indicator that this market has peaked. I think it will have very little impact on the economy.

“We should not ask what does this $100 oil mean for the economy, we should ask what does the economy mean for $100 oil. The reason we are in a bull market is that we are in a strong economy and that pushes oil prices higher …

BOB SCHAEFFER, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, BECKER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT,

PORTLAND, OREGON:

“I don’t think it’s a significant change. $100 is one of those things that psychologically gets some attention. The difference between $98 oil and $100 oil is relatively immaterial but it’s one of those threshold numbers.”

JIM PAULSEN, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT WELLS CAPITAL

MANAGEMENT IN MINNEAPOLIS:

“I still think this is more frightening than anything else. It’s adding to lack of confidence, but not truly shutting down consumer budgets, because we’ve been here at $3 a gallon at the pump for a while.”

TODD SALAMONE, VICE PRESIDENT OF RESEARCH, SCHAEFFER’S

INVESTMENT RESEARCH IN CINCINNATI

“Certainly $100 is a psychological barrier. But while consumer spending has been a concern, when we were at $90, $95 a barrel — consumers continued to spend. There is a lot of headwind for the consumer, but I don’t see $100 as a brake-light for them.”

TIM EVANS, ENERGY ANALYST, CITIGROUP FUTURES RESEARCH, NEW YORK

“The entire focus on $100 oil is frivolous. It is not a magic number. It doesn’t suddenly make this a fundamentally strong market. On the contrary, all of the fundamental repercussions of $95 and $100 oil are bearish.

RON SIMPSON, DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, ACTION ECONOMICS,

TAMPA, FLORIDA

“Higher oil prices lead to a slower economy, lower interest rates and higher inflation. That’s not good for any dollar asset class.”

JIM RITTERBUSCH, PRESIDENT, RITTERBUSCH & ASSOCIATES, GALENA,

ILLINOIS

“It’s a bullish market. It looks to have several dollars to the upside.”

HARRY TCHILINGUIRIAN OF BNP PARIBAS

“Our 2008 profile expects price spikes above $100 in the winter and summer periods and a strong downside in the second half of 2008 as a U.S., and with the usual lag, an advanced economies slowdown moderates growth in emerging markets.”

MARK MATTHIAS OF INVESTMENT SPECIALIST DAWNAY DAY QUANTUM

“…it might struggle to go much above $110 and obviously there has already been quite a lot of resistance ahead of $100.”

KRIS VOORSPOOLS OF FORTIS IN BRUSSELS

“Oil could rise further from here ($100). It’s simple supply and demand fundamentals.”