Word: barrelfuls
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...thread of this one starts in the early '90s. After the Persian Gulf War, as Middle East producers pumped their way to recovery, the price of crude oil dropped steadily, then stayed low for nearly a de- cade, fueling the global economic boom. By early '99, a barrel of oil clocked in at just...
...other exporters, such as Russia and Mexico, went virtually bankrupt from lost oil revenues. Finally, in the past year, OPEC's members woke up. Why should the West profit from unparalleled prosperity while they drew up austerity plans? They boosted the cost of crude by slowing production, until a barrel fetched nearly $35. Americans, like Europeans, started to grumble at the steady rise in the price they paid to gas up. By summer, U.S. drivers were paying around $1.70 per gal., Europeans anywhere from...
...weekend to contemplate the Clinton administration's debut as a player in the world crude markets, oil traders heard the sound of spigots and responded just as Bill, Al and the Eurozone had hoped. Benchmark Brent crude oil for November delivery fell by 95 cents to $30.30 per barrel in London, and even briefly hit $29.90 - the lowest intra-day level since...
...move's immediate lesson is that when it comes to political expediency, Al Gore has nothing on his boss. Richardson denied any intended benefit for the aspiring veep, and indeed, not only does the decision positively dwarf Gore's Thursday proposal for "several" 5-million-barrel swaps, any benefits for goosing heating-oil stockpiles are unlikely to show up until well after the election. So the administration's it-was-Bill's-idea announcement, with Al Gore nowhere in sight, may help protect the veep against George W. Bush. But it doesn't make the precedent any less shocking...
...remember going to Texas in 1988 with the Dukakis campaign and hearing the state's highway commissioner and designated Democratic wit, Jim Hightower, tell a crowd, "When ignorance goes to $25 a barrel, I want the drilling rights on George Bush's head...