Nbadan
11-01-2004, 04:44 PM
As if any reasonable-minded person needs another reason to vote Kerry tommarrow...
By Richard Valdmanis
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices may cost as much as 10 percent less next year if U.S. Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) defeats President Bush (news - web sites) in Tuesday's election, some energy analysts said on Monday.
Kerry is seen as more likely to use the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to cool prices and is expected to have a less aggressive policy in the Middle East, lowering the risk of supply disruptions from the energy-rich region.
"Under a Kerry administration we'd likely have a much more interventionist SPR policy," said Jamal Qureshi, market analyst at PFC Energy in Washington. "And when you look out a bit further, Bush is more likely to be aggressive in the Middle East, particularly in Iran," he added.
Oil prices have jumped to record highs this year over $55 a barrel on concerns over tight supplies, unreliable shipments from war-torn Iraq (news - web sites) and growing demand from countries like China and India.
On Monday, a day ahead of the election, oil prices recoiled more than two dollars to dip below $50.
PFC predicts an average oil price of $43 a barrel in 2005 if Kerry wins, compared with $48 if Bush is reelected .
Yahoo News (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041101/pl_nm/energy_prices_election_dc)
This weeks down-turn in prices could be a sign that the oil market expects Kerry to win tommarrow night and ease Middle-East Policy that has led to a premium of at least $10 per gallon since 911.
By Richard Valdmanis
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices may cost as much as 10 percent less next year if U.S. Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) defeats President Bush (news - web sites) in Tuesday's election, some energy analysts said on Monday.
Kerry is seen as more likely to use the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to cool prices and is expected to have a less aggressive policy in the Middle East, lowering the risk of supply disruptions from the energy-rich region.
"Under a Kerry administration we'd likely have a much more interventionist SPR policy," said Jamal Qureshi, market analyst at PFC Energy in Washington. "And when you look out a bit further, Bush is more likely to be aggressive in the Middle East, particularly in Iran," he added.
Oil prices have jumped to record highs this year over $55 a barrel on concerns over tight supplies, unreliable shipments from war-torn Iraq (news - web sites) and growing demand from countries like China and India.
On Monday, a day ahead of the election, oil prices recoiled more than two dollars to dip below $50.
PFC predicts an average oil price of $43 a barrel in 2005 if Kerry wins, compared with $48 if Bush is reelected .
Yahoo News (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041101/pl_nm/energy_prices_election_dc)
This weeks down-turn in prices could be a sign that the oil market expects Kerry to win tommarrow night and ease Middle-East Policy that has led to a premium of at least $10 per gallon since 911.