Publications: The Petroleum Economics Monthly

How Energy Policy Officials Inadvertantly Talk Up Oil Prices (August 2012)

 

The report title this month, "How Energy Policy Officials Inadvertently Talk Up Crude Prices," tells the whole story. Here we assert that energy policymakers—not OPEC, not speculators, and not oil companies—have sent oil prices to $120 per barrel. Our basic conclusion is that people who influence or set energy policy, especially those at the International Energy Agency and in governments, are accidentally and unintentionally discouraging private firms from accumulating product and crude inventories. Lower private stocks lead to higher prices, as gasoline consumers have seen recently.

 

To read more, please view the summary PDF provided here. To request subscription information for The Petroleum Economics Monthly, please Contact Us or send us an Information Request.