New Volatile Plateau Supports Energies

摘要

According to the law of supply and demand, high prices reflecting demand should result in greater production of a commodity. In the case of energy markets, traders are having to adjust their thinking about what "high" is or what "high" can do, After a year when nearby crude oil futures closed above $30 a barrel for nearly two-thirds of the trading ses sions at the New York Mercantile Exchange, $30 no longer seems so "high." The march into Baghdad made 2003 an exceptional year, of course, but high energy prices have persisted due to supply uncertainties and increasing demand from improv-ing global economies. Most factors that could affect the price of energy still come down on the side of at least firm and potentially even higher price levels. In a fragile market, a cold snap in the northeast-ern United States or terrorist incidents anywhere in the world could be the catalyst that takes energy prices above the records of Gulf Wars Ⅰ and Ⅱ.