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Oil Prices Skyrocket, Taking Biggest Jump Ever
Jad Mouawad, New York Times
Oil prices had their biggest gains ever on Friday, jumping nearly $11 to a new record above $138 a barrel, after a senior Israeli politician raised the specter of an attack on Iran and the dollar fell sharply against the euro.

The unprecedented gains on Friday capped a second day of strong gains on energy markets, and fueled suspicions that commodities might be caught in a speculative bubble.

Oil futures surged $10.75, or 8 percent, to $138.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The record gain followed a jump of 5.5 percent on Thursday, bringing total two-day gains to $16 a barrel.
(7 June 2008)

Oil Rises to Record on Weakening Dollar, Morgan Stanley Outlook
Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg
Crude oil rose more than $9 to a record as the dollar weakened after the U.S. unemployment rate grew the most in two decades and Morgan Stanley said prices may reach $150 within a month.

Oil may ``spike'' because ``Asia is taking an unprecedented share'' of Middle East exports, Morgan Stanley analyst Ole Slorer wrote. The dollar weakened against the euro after the unemployment rose to 5.5 percent, signaling the Federal Reserve may be reluctant to increase interest rates. Oil also rose after an Israeli minister said an attack on Iran may be necessary.

Oil is ``being used as a hedge by speculative buyers for the weakened dollar,'' said Gary Adams, vice chairman of oil and gas consulting at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Houston. `We are seeing that the price will continue to go up as investors look for alternatives.
(6 June 2008)

Oil's surges $11 day to record $138
Catherine Clifford and Ben Rooney, CNNMoney
Oil prices shot up nearly $11 a barrel and settled Friday at a record $138.54 - driven by geopolitical jitters, a dollar decline stemming from a weak jobs report and a forecast that oil would hit $150 by July 4.

Friday's spike in the July contract for light crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange marks the largest singe-day increase in oil prices on record. It it an intraday record of $139.12, breaking the previous trading record of $135.09.

"The bulls are running rampant and the bears have panicked," said oil industry analyst Stephen Schork, editor of the Schork Report. "It's pure hysteria, absolute panic," he added.

Trading of heating oil futures was briefly suspend earlier Friday morning after the contract reached a "circuit breaker limit."

Comments by an Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Shaul Mofaz, revived concerns that instability in the Middle East could cause supply disruptions.

"If Iran continues its program to develop nuclear weapons, we will attack it," Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told Yediot Ahronot, Israel's largest mass-circulation daily.
(6 June 2008)

Analyst sees $150 oil within a month
John Partridge, Globe & Mail
Record demand from Asia will likely send oil prices rocketing to $150 (U.S.) a barrel by July 4, a U.S. analyst predicted Friday, triggering an immediate jump of more than $6 to $134 a barrel in New York.

“We are calling for a short-term spike in oil prices,” analyst Ole Slorer at Morgan Stanley in New York told clients in a report. “Middle East oil exports are stable, but Asia is taking an unprecedented share.”
(6 June 2008)

Some oil pundits see crude hitting $140 or more
Alex Lawler, Reuters
Oil prices, which last month hit a record high above $135 a barrel, will probably rise to $140 soon, the head of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Friday.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley, one of Wall Street's biggest energy traders, was even more bullish, saying on Friday that crude may reach $150 by July 4 due to robust Asian demand and falling inventories.

"The general trend is for the price to continue up and up," Shokri Ghanem, head of NOC, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "I think pretty soon it will reach $140."
(6 June 2008)

Israel-Iran Tension Causing Oil Price Surge, CNBC Analyst Says
Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute
John Kilduff says early spike in oil stems from Israeli Transport Minister calling attack on Iran's nuclear facilities 'unavoidable.'
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In early trading on June 6, the price of a barrel of oil rose $6 and was holding steady at near-record highs in excess of $133. According to CNBC contributor John Kilduff, a high-ranking Israeli official caused the spike when he commented on tensions between Israel and Iran.

“[W]hat’s really lit up this market big time here is, which hasn’t been really mentioned. I haven’t heard too much and I’m surprised at, is deputy minister in Israel said this morning that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is quote, ‘unavoidable,’” said Kilduff on CNBC's “Squawk on the Street” June 6.

“This is one of Ehud Olmert’s deputies - leading deputies, and Israel having a track record in this area, the market has jumped all over this comment,” he said.
(6 June 2008)

Analysis: Growing talk of Iran attack
Jeremy Bowen, BBC News
Last December American intelligence agencies said they had "high confidence" that in late 2003 Iran had stopped trying to build nuclear weapons.

That seemed to end much of the talk about an American - or Israeli - attempt to destroy the facilities that Iran has developed for what it insists is a purely peaceful nuclear programme.

Plenty of influential people in the Middle East, Europe and the United States think an attack on Iran would have consequences potentially as disastrous as the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It would also send oil prices, already through the roof, into orbit.

But the talk has started again. Negotiations with Iran - and sanctions against it - have not stopped it enriching uranium, which its critics say is being done to make a bomb.
(6 June 2008)