Peter Beutel Quotations

We're going to see huge price increases, particularly for Midwestern home owners this winter; and if it's a cold winter they will be really hurting. They are already looking at price increases of 40 to 80 percent.

We can debate what percentage of the profits should be plowed back into the company and what percentage belongs to the shareholders. Not being a shareholder, I'd prefer to see them err in the direction of spending a larger portion on refineries and new (oil and gas) fields and infrastructure.

U.S. refineries prefer a lighter grade of crude than OPEC can add right now. The big problem is the refining issue. Now with another storm threatening the Gulf, and the half the Gulf that avoided Katrina, it has traders spooked this morning. We really don't need another storm near the producing areas at all.

U.S. refineries prefer a lighter grade of crude than OPEC can add right now, ... The big problem is the refining issue. Now with another storm threatening the Gulf, and the half the Gulf that avoided Katrina, it has traders spooked this morning. We really don't need another storm near the producing areas at all.

We're still going to need to refine this oil into heating oil and gasoline before it really has an effect on us.

We'll be looking at it (Greenspan's speech) a lot more closely than we normally do, but I don't know if we'd ever look at it the same bond traders do. To them everything he says is gospel. It's only once every couple of years we even know what he's saying.

We did have some profit-taking early, but I think a lot of people that were caught behind the eight ball saw that as an opportunity to buy.

Yesterday's report showed draws across the board and for some reason it didn't take.

The only good news is that with margins like this, every refiner that can will ramp up output. There may be a long-term change because this storm has focused attention on the need for additional refineries. An aggressive company may agree to jump through the hoops to build the first new refinery in almost 30 years.

Right away, nationwide, we're going to see an increase of gas prices of 12 cents. We'll see it almost everywhere by Tuesday. In addition, sometime between St. Patrick's Day and the end of the month, I expect to see an additional 12 cents. This is extraordinarily bad news for the consumer.

One of the big problems is that it seems there's no supply to see us through the end of the year.

If we come back on Monday and there is no new hurricane and Wilma has not done any damage to oil and gas production, then I think traders will be selling almost in relief,

I believe we are done with the with energy bull market,

I don't think it's going to stop prices from going where they want to go. Something needed to be done, and I think he did all he could. But much of it is symbolic.

If we pass on the full extent of national gas prices they could be double their level last winter.

If we lose one refinery for two or three weeks the sky's the limit (for oil prices).

Having one beneath Texas would be an unmitigated disaster.

It is a country interested in growing rapidly, and one of the big bottlenecks in its growth has been energy. If it was suddenly trying to buy 1.5 million barrels today, it'd sop up most of the surplus right now.

I think that's going to keep (gasoline and oil) prices from dropping dramatically.

It is a powerful storm with the potential to cause a great deal of damage, but it looks extremely unlikely that this storm will threaten the offshore oil and gas producing regions of the Gulf.

Last week's report showed builds in all three major categories, but we aren't expecting this week's report to be as bearish.

OPEC hawks are still concerned that demand could drop dramatically during the second quarter. But with there being a number of threats to supplies, the cartel did not feel it made sense to cut output.

People are not paying very close attention to it, ... At this point this market is just living and dying with every twist and turn of weather report -- we'll probably revisit it later but it's not important until we get Rita out of our systems.

Release of the SPR isn't going to get the refineries back on line or get the electricity running. Releasing the SPR is the best we can do, which is a sad commentary on our preparedness for this kind of disaster.

Price declines could be slow this week, maybe with a bubble burst at some point in the future. It does appear we've turned the corner here in this market. I don't think we'll see prices at these levels again anytime in the next five years.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. It's hard to tell at what point consumers will start to balk. It defies the laws of economics.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. With what's been going on the past few days, it's hard to see a solid reason why prices should be higher today. It's disturbing.

It does appear we've turned the corner here in this market. They're reacting to the fact that there was less damage than expected, rather than the amount of damage that did occur. Yes, it's going to take time to repair these refineries, and yes there will be at least one day we'll see prices run up. But I think we've probably seen the highest gasoline prices behind us.

We're already in the position where every refinery unit is vital just to meet demand. We don't have any spare capacity. That's what it makes it so critical.

We are looking at prices dramatically higher than a year ago in some cases.

Traders remain extremely nervous about gasoline supplies, especially with the switch to ethanol nationwide.

You don't make a top when things start to look bearish; you make it when things look bullish,

We don't know how much of the refinery is down or for how long. But not to negate the human tragedy, it happened at the worst time of the year seasonally. And it happens at a time the market is nervous and looking for reasons to go higher anyway.

The factor that's moving prices higher is the overarching petro-political fears. This market has a lot on its plate this week.

With another storm threatening the half the Gulf that avoided Katrina, it has traders spooked this morning,

With oil stocks so low, there's a huge amount of concern.

The good news is, we have a week to get ready. The bad news is that the market has all week to react.

We also broke an important barrier. Once oil broke $62.50, a lot of mutual funds and speculators started buying.

This week's DOE report showed a decent withdrawal in distillate stocks, with demand finally showing some teeth.

We could be looking at gasoline lines and $4 gas, maybe even $5 gas, if this thing does the worst it could do,

Every time energy prices triple we have a major recession in 1½ to 2 years.

At this point it looks like $70 is squarely in the market's sights, and people are talking about it as a done deal, ... The likelihood is that if Katrina goes into the Gulf and we don't know exactly where it will make landfall, anyone short in this market Friday afternoon will panic.

There's some apprehension about the report. If we don't see an increase in distillate inventories, traders are going to ask when we will before winter.

There's some apprehension about the report, ... If we don't see an increase in distillate inventories, traders are going to ask when we will before winter.

The very fact that it was ignored is further proof that we are now in a bearish market. We feel that we may have kicked into a new gear on the downside.

Prices to me seem to be sick. I don't know if it's something to do with the economy. The fact that they're acting so sick, that they've fallen down and they can't get up is telling me that it may be something structural.

Prices seem to be in a trading range between $57 and $64. They are having difficulty moving beyond either of those borders.

This is a postcard from another country. If only we could have kept these numbers without the hurricane, this would have been a real sign of hope.

This is the big one. This is unmitigated, bad news for consumers.

This has absolutely nothing to do with supply and demand.

American consumers spent nearly $10 billion more last week on energy than they did in the same week three years ago. That's not sustainable.

They have at this point ceased to be a meaningful cartel at these prices. The only reason they hold these OPEC meetings is have an excuse to get out of their own countries, go to Vienna and go on a shopping spree.

They have at this point ceased to be a meaningful cartel at these prices, ... The only reason they hold these OPEC meetings is have an excuse to get out of their own countries, go to Vienna and go on a shopping spree.

A combination of cold weather and good economic numbers has sent us higher. This week's data shows that the economy hasn't buckled under the pressure of high oil prices.

It's just a matter of seeing how high prices will go before we reach a level that will stop growth.

It seems like we're going to have to rendezvous with the $50 level.

It's a combination of petro-political fears. It's such a nervous market.

It's less than 30,000 barrels a day in a country that consumes 21 million. That's not even rearranging a single deck chair on the Titanic. But psychologically, it has some effect.

It's going to take a long time before we know exactly how to look at this, what effect Katrina is having long-term. I would like to say for now at least the worst is behind us. What tomorrow brings, particularly on the weather front, remains to be seen. We're still in a tight situation.

Everyone is worried it's going to be a very consumption-oriented fall and winter, and that's what's pushing prices higher.

Still, the middle of October is the time for us to look at a top. A number of fundamentals that used to move higher are getting pretty stale. The drop in production from the U.S. Gulf, the Nigerian strike, a lot of these factors aren't getting any worse.

It now looks like the post-Katrina high will be the top for a long time. Although the supply picture is the worst it has ever been, the weakening demand picture is an even bigger worry. Demand is shifting underfoot as high prices are felt by consumers.

They would have to raise production by more than a million barrels a day to get it down to $25,

There's tremendous potential for spikes we've never seen before.

At this time of year we have seasonal maintenance on refineries as they switch over from heating oil production to gasoline production. Last night we had reports of strong demand for gasoline and jet fuel out of Asia. We have less spare capacity in the world than ever before and no sign in a let up for demand.

The feeling was that Kerry might have tried to stop the restocking of the strategic petroleum reserve, and might have sold off reserves if oil got above $50.

I'm not forecasting these changes. These changes have already occurred at the wholesale level.

If Rita follows through on its course, all rigs in the area will be evacuated and production will be affected, which is exactly what we don't need, and if Rita knocks out any more refineries, we're in real trouble,

By Labor Day weekend, prices will be up 20 cents to 50 cents a gallon,

I don't see how anyone could approach it with any kind of rationality or logic left.

If demand is not going to fall and keep on falling, then supply moves back into the driver's seat in this market.

This is all about Tropical Storm Rita ... obviously, the last thing that this market needs is for a hurricane to hit the western gulf where it didn't hit last time.

The market is so jittery. If anything comes out of this that is in any way escalating the situation, I think prices will go higher.

The market has effectively discounted most of the risk of the situation already.