We have to admit being taken completely by surprise by the huge spike in oil prices on Friday. As readers will know we had been favouring a fall in prices. It seems that we were far from being alone in this surprise. This analysis from the Wall Street Journal shows that there was no single explanation for the spike, but maybe the market speculators are not helping.
Where to from here? No more predictions from The Hive for a while. George Soros who was on our side now seems to be hedging his bets. The reality is that no one knows
Crude's sudden rebound after a week of easing prices left some OPEC officials complaining privately that the market had lost all logic, and was now operating by forces untethered to the realities of supply and demand. Still, the soaring price of crude is sure to ramp up pressure on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting States to weigh a production increase.
