Fadel Gheit Quotations

Until and unless the stalemate with Iran is resolved one way or the other, I think we're going to see prices higher.

What he's saying makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, the source of the comment is going to send jitters in the market.

Unless (energy) prices collapse, earnings in 2006 will make 2005 look like a cake walk.

We reiterate our buy rating, as we believe the upside potential is greater than the downside risk from sharply lower oil prices given the strong demand, tight supply and lack of spare capacity.

With the right investment environment and under the right government, Iraq could increase production by a million barrels a day every year for the next 10 years, ... It could be the largest oil exporter in the world, eclipsing Saudi Arabia.

We're still in a delicate balance, with people still concerned about a major supply disruption.

The only weapon they can use is oil.

This rally is the perfect storm. It's surreal, it's like watching a movie.

The only option for these companies is to merge and seek yet more job cuts and savings.

The only good news about the first quarter is that it's over,

There are mandatory evacuations in the Galveston area, and most of the operating companies near Texas City are preparing to shut down completely by this Friday. They believe, at best, they will be shut down for three days, maybe as long as a week.

We're giving the patient the wrong medicine. The problem is not the lack of crude oil.

Losing the Saudi oil would immediately shock the U.S. economy to the worst level in decades,

Lee Raymond really set the standard for other CEOs in the industry. Everybody else copied Lee Raymond, but you can't duplicate what he's done.

One million barrels is nothing, it's like a rounding error, ... One vessel could arrive tomorrow carrying one or two million barrels of crude.

Occidental is paying more than double what its own stock is valuing its existing reserves,

My expectations were extremely high; we missed big time.

Obviously, if they had cut production more, prices would have probably moved higher, and that would have curtailed economic growth, ... They want to make sure they will not be blamed for any economic slowdown in the second half of this year.

Right now it's a squeeze play for oil industry, ... But if they can get by from here to February, I think the coast is clear.

Politicians can flip in no time, depending on where the political wind is blowing. The company is concerned and doing the right thing by educating the public.

I would be very surprised if they don't beat '05 by double digits. Something would have to go dramatically wrong.

I guarantee $3-a- gallon gas all over the country if we have any supply disruption anywhere in the Middle East.

If we don't have a particularly cold winter, we won't see prices rise dramatically.

But when oil goes up, stocks go down. Crude prices have to crash, but it won't happen until about six weeks after the election. We'll see a lot of activity no matter who's in the White House.

Basically the stocks are following the sentiment on the crude side more than anything else. There are no big surprises.

Basically, it was a great period for traders - some of them made a lot of money and some of them lost a lot of money.

Because of the changes around the world, you cannot take a very hard line and unwavering view.

Basically, before the hurricane, they went home Friday thinking this thing is going to fizzle out, it's going to bark but it's not going to bite,

Barring any serious supply disruption, there is plenty of oil and prices could drop if the weather stays warm. But we have tremendous speculation in the markets driving prices, so there is no way to guarantee they will continue to fall.

Given the current market fundamentals we expect average prices for both oil and gas this year to be significantly above 2005 record levels. As a result, we expect 2006 earnings to be above 2005 record levels.

We've given them enough of a scare the last few days, a preview of things to come when demand is not strong,

The only thing keeping prices artificially high is the potential for supply disruption, ... Fundamentally, prices should be at $20-to-$25.

I would say we'll probably see $70 (a barrel) again before we see $50 or $55 even. When the dust settles, we'll see that while Rita did not match Katrina in terms of impact, it significantly exceeded what's been reported.

It could be a month, it could be a year, but I hope it's not longer. The longer prices stay high, the more trouble there will be.

I will say it will bring gasoline prices down substantially within two to three weeks. I would say by 20 cents at least or even more.

I think Exxon would probably have to sweeten the deal with some cash, but Exxon stock is an extremely good currency for Mobil shareholders to hold.

OPEC really cannot extend this period much longer. OPEC wants to do what I call a soft landing, by easing supply back into the market slowly and not causing any shocks.

OPEC really cannot extend this period much longer, ... OPEC wants to do what I call a soft landing, by easing supply back into the market slowly and not causing any shocks.

Refining margins across the board obviously cooled off from their all-time high in the third quarter, and obviously that was very clear and expected.

Part of the reason (companies are having trouble adding real reserves) is that there has not been an elephant discovery -- one over a billion barrels -- for 15 years.

I think OPEC is showing tremendous strength in keeping oil prices firm, but they cannot push it much further, ... If they do, they will have to contend with things that they do not want in the long run, like possible economic troubles.

maybe sprinkle a few names from refining, marketing, some independent stocks, and energy services stocks.

We have to remember here that almost 25 per cent of our refining capacity is concentrated within a 15 to 20 mile radius from the Houston area, so any impact could be substantial,

We're already seeing some companies yielding to pressure. But everybody is waiting for the big lady to sing, which is Exxon.

The problem is not lack of oil supply. It's lack of oil refining capacity, ... You can give me all the oil you want, but our cars do not run on crude oil.

We have not even recovered from Katrina, so it would be another big blow.

We are only scratching the surface. In my view, this company is hitting on all cylinders.

We are not insulated from the rest of the world, like it or not.

When gas prices rise then discretionary driving is curtailed. People will think twice. I was just down south and everybody I talked to was carpooling.

When gas prices rise then discretionary driving is curtailed, ... People will think twice. I was just down south and everybody I talked to was carpooling.

Volatility will continue and we are going to see higher highs and lower lows.

The demand for gasoline is very strong. And obviously now people are thinking ahead. And if we have a cold winter, we'll see a run up in home heating oil to above $2 per gallon,

The conventional wisdom was that we were going to see immediately after the terrorist attack a spike of oil prices,

There have been serious discussions by politicians from both parties about pushing for windfall profit tax. That's what has the industry terrified.

We're not likely to see oil prices going lower until there's resolution on the Iraqi front,

We think they're going to do a huge, huge second quarter. They're printing money, basically.

We are entering the lowest demand period of the year sitting on huge levels of inventories.

Exxon Mobil should be a core holding for long-term investors seeking superior risk-adjusted return.

Exxon is a good corporate citizen but it does not work for the welfare of the country.

But oil is unlike all other commodities, ... It is a political commodity. We will go to war to protect it, to ensure adequate supply, which makes it very, very hard to predict.

There is no reason for the prices to fall when people are obsessed with the possibility of supply disruptions and the fact that prices are not slowing demand.

There is speculation that Texaco would be the next takeover target, but on fundamentals, Texaco is a very cheap stock, very high leverage to both oil prices and gas prices and both moving higher,

We might see some reflection on crude prices as well as gasoline prices going forward, but not by much. I hope that people do not have high hopes for much lower crude prices or gasoline prices, because that is not in the cards.

We created a panic situation by reading too much into the empty threats, and when these threats started moving prices higher in anticipation, then the U.S. put its foot down and said even if Iraq stops world export, we are prepared to take all the necessary measures to make sure there is plenty of supply.

We could suddenly have oversupply and weaker demand, and that will probably bring oil prices down on their own,

We could see the market getting tight in the event that we have a really cold winter.

We could say we were releasing oil to drive prices down until they get to $25 a barrel, ... Then OPEC could say it'll cut production to keep prices up. It's a very delicate subject to tinker with.

BP is more fat. Exxon is all muscle. Exxon stole the thunder this quarter.

Every producer around the world is producing the marginal barrel to take advantage of high prices. Right now, OPEC is not holding back. But OPEC wants to have its cake and eat it, too.

At the end of the day, people who lose their jobs aren't going to go anywhere.

There's hope that an increase in demand will bring down what is perceived to be current high level of inventory, ... But that has not happened. We haven't seen significant declines in inventory levels around the world. That has influenced OPEC's decision.

These stocks are not reflecting $50 or $60 oil. They are probably reflecting $40 oil. But this is not realistic. The fundamentals support a higher price.

The speculators are going to have a field day playing with emotion and rumor.

The surge in oil prices took companies by surprise. They didn't expect the windfall profits and were ill prepared to handle the instant wealth. It's like winning the lottery.

Rumors and speculation have taken over the market.

Our economic dependence on oil is much less than it was even 10 years ago. If inflation comes, it won't be as big a hit as it was in the '80s.

Operationally they exceeded expectations in terms of production; their production volume was up significantly from year ago.

Speculators pushed the prices beyond even the most bullish estimates, because they exaggerated (supply shortage fears), but now I think we see the party's over.

Speculators have no reason to scare people with shortages. And you can see this because futures are dropping and prices will continue to drop,

Oil prices have been exceeding the most bullish forecasts for the past year and a half, and that's not driven by industry fundamentals, but largely by speculation and fears of a potential supply disruption,

Oil prices, ... are probably going to go over $26, which will mark the highest level outside the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Demand continues to be relatively strong. Supply remains tight. And the global economy seems to be doing OK. As they say, no harm, no foul.

CNOOC handled it very badly, with poor strategy and poor decision-making. They had the deal almost in their back pocket but they threw it away, insisting Unocal pay Chevron the breakup fee. Either they got bad advice or they didn't take good advice.

Any cooling in economic growth immediately will take oil demand down so one would expect the price will come down.

And there is no near-term solution for any of these things.

The bulk of the replacement in the last three years was through acquisitions. The easy oil has been discovered.

As long as oil prices remain high, oil stocks will continue to outperform the market in general.

You put all these headlines together, you see the situation is getting charged up and getting out of control.

This is evidence that we really don't have to worry about shortages,

This is an industry in crisis. Every oil company will reduce their production forecast as lower spending will immediately be followed by lower production and lower reserve replacement.

The U.S. uses 20 million barrels of oil a day. Prices are currently inflated by about $15 a barrel, and that additional cost is effectively a $300 million dollar-a-day tax on Americans, eating away at disposable income for people in this country,

This global tension, led by the stalemate between Iran and the U.S., could lead to oil prices about $80. People are really afraid that something is going to happen, and soon.

This administration has created more profit for the industry that it has made since its inception. The oil industry will be the big winner during the (Bush years). We can count on the fact that oil prices are not going to go lower. If they move they will only go higher.

They were hitting on all cylinders. ... It's good news for Exxon shareholders and likely to continue in '06.

A lot of people were expecting that Saddam Hussein would pull a trick before year-end because he was trying to put pressure on the U.N. to lift sanctions or try to alter the position of the sanction, so he threatened two weeks ago to stop exporting oil, ... The traders panicked in anticipation of a supply shortage, but Iraq never stopped producing oil.

Also, the president is making speeches trying to talk oil prices down and say the situation is better, but talk won't change the underlying fundamentals. Demand is still strong, supply is still tight. So even if perception changes for a bit, the situation is no different.

They may not be just forming an alliance but instead merging where they won't have different mindsets but a single set of goals,

There isn't enough spare refining capacity around to offset these unpredictable events, ... We were stretched before the hurricane; the hurricane made a bad situation worse.

This is a very very freaky market. The the bad news is this was a very bad quarter. The good news is next quarter is going to be better.

They're on the right track, they're doing a good job, stay tuned. As long as we have $60-plus oil, I think they're all going to do well.