Oil Price Falling?

This is a very typical headline that we’ve been observing over the years in relation to oil prices. The headline and article aren’t lying; but there is a very careful and in my opinion orchestrated media coverage to minimize oil price increases. NO kidding, follow this trend for yourself as there will undoubtably be more occurances of this media message in the future.

In this particular case, the fact oil set a record high price is minimized and the emphasis is on “Oil Falls”. As opposed to emphasizing it closed at an all time high, the emphasis is that the price fell from an interday high that was at an even higher price than the close.

Personally I find this very Orwellian.

Oil Falls From Record as U.S. House Passes Speculation Measure

By Margot Habiby

June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell in New York, retreating from the record $140.39 a barrel reached yesterday, as the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill aimed at curbing excessive energy-market speculation.

The bill, which passed 402-19, would require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to consider using position limits, or constraints on the size of the stake each speculative investor can own, and raising margin requirements, the amount of money required to trade. It was approved after the record was set.

The measure's ``not likely to be bullish,'' said Tim Evans, an energy analyst for Citi Futures Perspective in New York. ``You can argue that it may not be effective, but I don't know that you can actually argue that it's bullish.''

Crude oil for August delivery fell as much as $1.03, or 0.7 percent, to $138.61 a barrel, and was at $138.80 at 8:59 a.m. in Sydney in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Yesterday, oil rose $5.09, or 3.8 percent, to $139.64 a barrel, a record settlement price, as Libya threatened to cut output, OPEC's president said prices may reach $170 by the summer and the dollar weakened. Yesterday's all-time-high intraday price surpassed the $139.89 reached June 16.

To contact the reporter on this story: Margot Habiby in Dallas at mhabiby@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 26, 2008 19:07 EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&refer=energy&sid=aB1DPOiY.bA8