http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0CFlPRWqjy8&refer=home
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By Sophie Tan

May 6 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded near a record $120.36 a barrel in New York after a report yesterday showed U.S. service industries expanded in April, signaling higher energy use.

The Institute for Supply Management's index of non- manufacturing businesses, which make up almost 90 percent of the economy, grew for the first time since December, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said. The report came after an oil-pumping station was attacked in Nigeria over the weekend.

``The U.S. is entering the summer driving season in three to four weeks. There's the Beijing Olympics and new refineries coming online in China, they are going to need to fill their stocks,'' said Jonathan Kornafel, the director for Asia at Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. ``There are bad news coming out everyday on the supply side, it's a scary picture right now.''

Crude oil for June delivery was trading at $120.06 a barrel, up 9 cents, at 9:19 a.m. in Singapore in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, futures reached an all-time intraday high before closing $3.65, or 3.1 percent, up at $119.97 a barrel, the highest closing price since trading began in 1983.

U.S. refining capacity rose above 85 percent in the week ended April 18 for the first time since February, signaling that refiners are increasing output to meet demand for the peak-demand summer months.

Nigeria Attack

A weekend attack in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, forced Royal Dutch Shell Plc to reduce output, the Associated Press reported May 3, citing the company. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, claimed responsibility for the assault.

MEND has targeted Shell-operated pipelines in Nigeria, forcing the company to halt 170,000 barrels a day of exports of Bonny Light crude.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Nigeria unit will probably return to its normal rate of oil production of about 860,000 barrels a day by the middle of the week following the settlement of a labor strike, a government spokesman said.

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Another record as oil closes on $125

Oil hit yet another record high today as traders bet on the price hitting $200 a barrel
this year.

The price of a barrel of US crude hit $124.73 this morning, meaning the commodity has
racked up a new record price every day this week. Analysts said that $125 a barrel had
become the new target for the sector, and is likely to be breached rapidly.

Oil has been soaring for months, fuelled by the weakening dollar and speculation that
the price will keep rising, as well as growing demand from China.

This week's prediction from Goldman Sachs that crude could rise to $150- $200 within
two years has added to excitement in the market.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/may/09/commodities.oil

:(

The US agreed yesterday to help Saudi Arabia protect its oil industry from terrorist attack, while offering to back conservative Arab countries resisting Iranian influence spreading across the Middle East.

The White House announced new agreements with the kingdom as President George Bush flew to Riyadh for private talks with King Abdullah at his ranch outside the capital. But the king was not persuaded to boost Saudi oil production to ease the effect of the $127-a-barrel price on the US economy.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/17/usa.saudiarabia

And bush is begging the saudi's to save his presidency like they did on 911.
Oh he needs a favour - can you saudi's ghost the congress with a nuke?

Crude oil has surged above $129 a barrel in New York for the first time after billionaire hedge-fund manager Boone Pickens said that oil will hit $150 a barrel later this year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/20/bcnoil120.xml