Supposedly the oil started to go up last week because of a situation in the Ukraine. Russia, the supplier of natural gas for the Ukraine and other countries in Western Europe, wanted Ukraine to pay "market rates" - I assume the same rates as the Western European customers. Uraine wanted lower rates. Russia cut their natural gas supply. At least that was the story used to "justify" or at least rationalize the increase in oil prices. One then has to accept that customers getting reduced natural gas could, and would, shift over to oil quickly and buy up the spot market. The other day, it was announced that Russia and Ukraine had reached an "accord". However, that news was not so loudly proclaimed, and ther has been very little movement (in proportion) of crude prices. Some - and, I'm just guessing here - might conclude that market "manipulators" and speculators were taking advantage of a situation and its reporting to move a market. Of course, there is no basis for that
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Mr. Sharon's illness may have contributed a rise of possibly $1.50 per bbl., which is about 3-4 cents per gallon.