Falling Dollar...

Oil prices bounced back below $71 on Wednesday as the dollar fell to its lowest level against the euro in more than a year. The euro hit $1.4821 Tuesday, its highest level since September 2008.
Crude is priced in dollars so it becomes cheaper when the dollar falls. Some investors also use commodities such as oil and gold as a hedge against inflation and dollar weakness. The weaker dollar also pushed prices higher for gasoline, heating oil, gold and other commodities. If the dollar continues to get fall like this it will be a threat to the economic recovery, both in Europe and the US.
To combat the worst recession since the 1930s, the US Federal Reserve policy makers have kept interest rates at a record low -- near zero -- and started an assortment of programs designed to encourage borrowing. Critics have complained that the Fed appears to be printing money to pay for the government's spending binge, and that hurts the dollar.
The Fed is expected to keep interest rates low at its meeting this week. And to avoid unleashing inflation later, policymakers are likely to consider ways to rein in programs designed to keep mortgage rates down and get banks to lend more freely. Demand and consumption of crude remains weak with high unemployment and the economy pushing down demand to levels that go back to 2004 and 2005, the US weekly petroleum inventory report indicates that crude oil stocks, gasoline and distillates used to make heating oil and diesel fuel rose in the week ended Friday.
However Portugal continues to have one of the most expensive final consumer price for petrol in the world, the companies Galp, Cepsa, BP and Repsol have once more tried to fool the public by lowering the consumer price in some cases as little as ... 0,4 cents !!!!
This is ridiculous compared to the 3 cents or even 4 cents that they normally increase ... the prices are the same in all filling stations, this shows that in fact there is a monopoly in price fixing with the approvement of the government..

Prices for regular 95 Octane.. (23-09-2009)
Galp 1,274 euro
Cepsa 1,278 euro
BP 1,284 euro
Repsol 1,284 euro

The crude price for the motorist in Portugal is not $71 per barril but rather a staggering $107 per barril !!!