WorldWatch News..

Once more SPECULATION is on the move, now we have Traders, energy economist and OPEC Oil Minister trying to force the crude prices up... The steepest plunge in crude prices on record is not over, Commodities prices last year fell the most in five decades as crude dropped more than $115 from the peak of $147.27 in July. OPEC is determined to inflate crude prices, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Dec. 21 in London, and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah said in November that $75 was a fair price. That month his nation cut output by 3.2 percent, the most since April 2006..
This will have a reverse effect on the crude prices as the world economy sinks further and demand will no doubt continue to fall, the so-called forward curve of futures suggests crude prices will fall 27 percent in the first quarter of 2009, the steepest drop in seven years... The world economy will get into a more stable environment most probably in the second half of next year.. Crude for February delivery traded at $46.89 a barrel at 9:50 a.m. in London today, compared with $60.10 for the December 2009 contract.
The U.S. economy will shrink 2.4 percent this quarter while Europe will shrink 1.8 percent according to economists surveyed by WorldWatch. Oil tumbled almost $115 a barrel from its July record. however there are some Countries that continue to practice inflated final consumer prices, one example is Portugal were energy prices are one of the most expensive in Europe...