Oil prices jumped above $110 a barrel after Japan was hit with another major earthquake. April oil futures rose $1.32, or 1.3 percent, to $110.15 a barrel. Prices had jumped as high as $110.44 – a level not seen since September 2008.
The gains came after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred around 10:30 a.m. ET, near the same location off the coast of Japan as the March 11 earthquake.
Japan’s news agency NHK issued a tsunami warning for roughly the same area that had been deluged by water less than a month ago. The tsunami warning was lifted two hours later, with no reports of major damage.
NHK said the troubled Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant did not experience any further damage from Thursday’s earthquake.
But the second earthquake and tsunami revived speculation about a short-term spike in energy demand as the nation rebuilds and stoked fears about the long-term viability of nuclear power in Japan, said Doug Roberts, chief market strategist for Channel Capital Research.
“It also creates uncertainty in the market,“ he said. “And whenever there’s uncertainty, people tend to build in a speculative premium.“
Can someone please call BULLPUCKY on why the rise in the price of oil is justified by this article? What next? Someone farts in Texas and the price of gas goes up throughout the world? I think enough is enough and the speculators need to be taken to the wood shed. This country is being flushed down the proverbial toilet and the politicians are stuck in partisan bickering with people’s lives at stake. God help us all.
There is nothing partisan about it. The Republicans support the development of the Outer Continatal Shelf, Alaskan Oil and onshore rresources.
The Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress refuse to support a reasonable program for accessing our oil and gas resources. They are held hostage by the environmental left, which is driving this agenda, wth their calls for enormous subsidies for “renewables” like solar and wind power. In the meantime, we continue to import oil from countries who wish us harm, causing tremendous economic problems both now and in the future. Until Obama is gone, this won’t change.