Get Ready for Oil Prices to Surge - Updated

Get ready for oil prices to surge. I know that you think that they are already surging. However, two bits of news are likely to drive them higher, faster. The most immediate factor is the shutdown of Scotland's only refinery. The shutdown is occurring ahead of a potential labor strike. The shutdown will take most of the North Sea oil offline.

The second, longer term, news is that the Saudi's are planning on not adding additional oil production capacity after 2009. Apparently, this is to see what happens to demands in the face of biofuels.

Both of these events are likely to blow the lid off of oil prices - at least for a while.

UPDATE You heard it first here. While great prescience was not needed for the prediction, I did get it right on both counts. This morning's BBC headline runs: Oil rises to yet another record: "Oil prices in London and New York have hit fresh record highs on the risk of supply disruptions and signs that Opec is unwilling to raise output further."

UTJ article originally posted at midnight on 4/20/08