By Leftlane Staff
Friday, Jul 14th, 2006 @ 11:37 am

Intensifying violence in the Middle East — including a mounting conflict between Israel and Lebanon — has pushed oil prices to a record $78 per barrel. While Israel and Lebanon are not involved in the Middle East oil market, there are fears a wider conflict in the region could affect oil production. “We haven’t even taken into account a potential hurricane in the United States, so getting to $80 and beyond this summer seems quite inevitable,” energy analyst Victor Shum said. “But if these Middle East events somehow get resolved, prices could also drop sharply.” Some analysts are again warning oil could reach $100 a barrel if a number of negative factors combine to influence the price of oil. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said in March that prices of $100 per barrel would “basically bring the [auto] industry to a halt.”

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