Hurricane Gustav nears Haiti, drives up oil prices

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Hurricane Gustav grew rapidly as it closed in on impoverished Haiti on Tuesday, and sent global oil prices soaring on fears it could become “extremely dangerous” in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rains on the leading edge of the storm drove many Haitians off the capital’s potholed streets, but prompted few other outward signs of preparation only hours before landfall.

Oil investors reacted sharply however, fearing the hurricane could threaten the Gulf’s many drilling platforms. Prices jumped by about US$5 a barrel after the Miami-based National Hurricane Center projected Tuesday that Gustav would gather strength over the Gulf’s warm waters.

“Most indications are that Gustav will be an extremely dangerous hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea in a few days,” the hurricane center said.

It is hard to predict just where Gustav will strike, “but the market is reacting to it,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

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Hurricane Gustav nears Haiti, drives up oil prices

The weather people are in a state of sheer euphoria right now. Gustav is alive, and growing, and gaining strength, and he could become a Cat 4, maybe a Cat 5. If nothing stops him, if he doesn’t hit a land mass, he could threaten the U.S. mainland by the weekend. All the computer models say so.

And of course there’s an automatic rise in oil prices. The Big Oil Companies are not about to miss a chance to gouge the American consumer one more time.

Recently, I have had some folks try and tell me that the Big Oil Companies are not making outrageously large profits. The same folks have also tried to tell me that the Big Oil Companies are doing all they can to keep prices down and they are NOT gouging the American public. If that’s what they want to believe, that’s good, I’m not going to blast them for their beliefs, but like the man said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”.

This hurricane hasn’t even hit the Gulf of Mexico yet. Not one oil rig has been damaged and not one drop of oil has been delayed from delivery. Production has not, at this time, been disrupted in ANY way, but the Big Oil Company guys have already raised the price by $5.00 a barrel.

Maybe it’s just a preemptive strategy. Maybe it’s simply market speculation. Maybe it’s price gouging at any opportunity. Whatever the case, it redefines the idea of a fair market, fair has nothing to do with it. It’s about the almighty dollar and how many $$$ the Big Oil Companies can take from us.

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