IST: Oil prices rise nearly 18 percent for month as demand grows
(Source: Tulsa World)Oil soared 17.7 percent in October on the expectation that the world's thirst for petroleum would keep growing, despite economic struggles in the West.
West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark oil in the U.S., jumped from about $79 to $93 per barrel during the month as fears of another U.S. recession subsided while Europe struck a landmark deal to reduce Greece's debt.
"Oil demand is higher worldwide," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil PriceInformation Service. "Other parts of the world, most notably South America, are consuming a lot of our (petroleum) products."
Independent oil analyst Andrew Lipow expects benchmark oil to hit $100 per barrel by the end of the year. But this has been a year of pronounced swings in the price of oil. WTI hit a high of $113.93 at the end of April, after starting 2011 at about $91 per barrel.
On Monday, WTI slipped 13 cents to end the month at $93.19 per barrel while Brent crude gave up 35 cents to $109.56 per barrel in London.
While oil has become more expensive in October, gasoline prices have held steady, ending the month at a national retail average of about $3.443 per gallon.
