Whew, today was a huge headline day. Everyone had to get a word in, be it bearish or bullish for Crude. In the right corner wearing a protein stained blue suit was Billy "The Kartoon Krusher" Clinton. Billy came out swinging with a headline that initially said something like "Clinton studying oil price pattern, concerned..blah blah". Then he followed it up with this gem:

Clinton said he was ``deeply'' troubled by escalating prices and had not ruled out any options

He was then joined in this tag team match by "Loose Lips Louie Tellez out of Mexico. Louie promptly weighed in with the following cryptic statement

"Mexico's goal is:not to have prices that have an impact on global dynamism.'' The United States had not put any pressure on Mexico regarding a production increase, he added.

Right, right Louie. Ya see folks watching OPEC is like watching Pro Wrestling these days. While Lips is Tellezing us that he wants a fair and sustainable oil price, his currency is getting a much needed break from the higher prices. I'd think twice about turning my back on Louis if I were Klintoon.

Then there were "the Congressmen". Late this afternoon I saw a headline come across the wires screaming "Group of Congressmen demand SPR release!". You can always count on a Congressman to jump on a passing bandwagon. Not for nothing fellas, but have you ever tried to run an SPR barrel in YOUR refinery? Probably not, cause if you had, you might realize that these are some pretty choice barrels (not).

Shortly after those congressmen jumped the bandwagon, a lone rider appeared in the distance by the name of "Little Joe Barton". Little Joe was busy rounding up a posse to demonstrate why we DON'T need SPR barrels at all.

Then there was Hurricane Hugo Chavez. Old Hugo was in rare form confirming what we already know, that nothing has been discussed or decided yet. The meeting's in March folks. Besides, Hugo's busy looking over his own shoulder in a big way these days.

Then we had Iran: Iranian Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadiari said OPEC could provide a ``suitable mechanism'' to keep the world oil market from spinning out of control, although he did not go so far as to call for any production increases.

Ah, yes the old suitable mechanism play. I remember that one. It goes, "If we keep the cuts, oil goes up...............if we increase production, crude goes down......All right everybody........on TWO......HUT HUT

So what does all this mean? Hell if I know. I'd look for crude to trade higher for a while longer. We didn't sell off hard on the Klintoon headlines, only closing down to R1 in my book. That combined with the amount of headline pressure we're exerting leads me to believe that crude's not done yet. None of this headline crap really matters much. If OPEC decides to it can make crude go much higher, say 32-35? But hey, it's really not important because as we all know oil's not an inflationary indicator anymore. Ah well.

Just snippets here, findem on Yahoo....no time to link.. For educational and noise filtering purposes only:

White House says monitoring volatile oil prices (Reuters) The Clinton administration is closely monitoring oil prices that have soared to nine-year highs as it uses energy diplomacy to persuade producing nations to boost output, the White House said on Tuesday. - Feb 15 7:20 PM EST

Clinton Worried on Heating Oil Costs (Associated Press) President Clinton said Tuesday the federal government is willing to give more help to families ``that are really getting hurt'' by the soaring cost of home heating oil in New England and the Middle Atlantic states. - Feb 15 3:56 PM EST

Clinton Keeps Options Open on Oil Prices (Reuters) President Clinton left open on Tuesday the option of releasing U.S. petroleum reserves to fight a rise in oil prices that has sent home heating oil costs soaring and become an issue in his wife's Senate campaign. - Feb 15 2:11 PM EST

U.S. says talking with oil producers about prices (Reuters) The United States continues to hold discussions with oil-producing nations on the impact of high crude oil prices on the U.S. and global economy, the State Department said on Tuesday. - Feb 15 5:34 PM EST

Mexico says current oil price not sustainable (Reuters) Mexico's Energy Minister Luis Tellez said on Tuesday current crude prices are not sustainable in the long term and that a production increase would begin March 31 if it were agreed by other oil producers. - Feb 15 4:45 PM EST

Mexico's Tellez says world oil prices "too high" (Reuters) Mexican Energy Minister Luis Tellez said on Monday world oil prices at more than $30 a barrel, higher than at the peak of the Gulf War in January 1991 are too high. - Feb 15 12:45 AM EST

Mexican peso ends firm, cautious ahead of Greenspan (Reuters) The Mexican peso ended a third consecutive day of advances against the dollar Tuesday helped by rising oil prices, traders said. - Feb 15 3:38 PM EST

U.S. lawmaker Barton says no need to tap SPR oil (Reuters) Rep. Joe Barton, the chairman of the House Commerce Energy and Power subcommittee, on Tuesday said he sees no reason to tap into Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil supplies to stem dramatic price increases for crude oil. - Feb 15 2:06 PM EST

Gas Price Rises 7.8 Cents as Oil Tops $30 Per Barrel (BusinessWire) Gasoline prices jumped an average 7.8 cents per gallon this month, with both gasoline and crude oil prices reaching nine-year highs, AAA said today. - Feb 15 1:56 PM EST

Venezuela says oil output rise not yet discussed (Reuters) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that he saw no reason to change the current OPEC agreement to curb exports, which lasts until March 31, and hike output now. - Feb 15 1:16 PM EST

Alert: Venezuelan President Chavez Says There Is No Reason to Increase Oil Output Now (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Feb 15 12:31 PM EST

Former Chavez Ally: Govt. Is Corrupt (Associated Press) A growing division in President Hugo Chavez's political coalition deepened Thursday when a fellow former coup leader charged that Chavez's first year in government has been marked by corruption. - Feb 10 11:00 PM EST

Venezuela leader cancels address after graft claim (Reuters) CARACAS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez canceled a planned national address on oil policy Thursday after the former head of the intelligence police presented 46 counts of corruption against his government. Chavez was to have presented his plans for the world's No. - Feb 10 10:14 PM EST

Venezuela's Chavez unveils plan to reshape economy (Reuters) CARACAS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez presented Tuesday ambitious plans to reshape the oil-reliant economy by boosting industrial production and making the South American nation agriculturally self-sufficient. In the first of 10 presentations to outline economic policy, Chavez unveiled plans to increase land under cultivation by around 50 percent this year to reduce Venezuela's reliance on imported foodstuffs. - Feb 08 6:34 PM EST

Iran: Oil Prices Should Rise Slowly (Associated Press) After seeing oil prices surge quickly to their highest level in nine years, Iran suggested Tuesday that OPEC might want to try to slow things down. - Feb 15 9:04 AM EST

Iran says unhappy with recent oil price rise (Reuters) Iran's Trade Minister Mohammad Shariat Madari said on Tuesday that his country was unhappy with a recent sharp rise in oil prices. - Feb 15 12:17 AM EST

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), February 15, 2000

Answers

I wonder if all these meetings aren't to find out when Klintoon's "domestic consumption only" speech ("We strong-armed 'em into giving us more oil...") can be made? The political heat is starting to rise now and everybody's got to be on the same page, you know.

Of course that all hinges on if capacity CAN be increased, not just the decision to increase capacity. And of course that's the big question as far as Y2K issues are concerned.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), February 15, 2000.