Hurricane forecast ignites crude prices

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Hurricane Katrina. Courtesy: SkatterTech.

Accuweather’s forecast of a strong 2007 hurricane season for the Gulf Coast  ignites crude oil futures prices (CLK7) to spike to a little under $66, after 5:00 PM EST…

According to the Reuters interview:

"We will not get anywhere near the amount of storms that we did in
2005, but the intensity of the storms we do get will be of major
concern," Joe Bastardi, chief hurricane forecaster for AccuWeather.com,
said in a statement.

[…]

Bastardi also predicted the U.S. Northeast would likely be  a target for strong storms for the next 10 years.

"Last year, the Northeast may have dodged a bullet but, unfortunately,
you can only be lucky for so long. We are in a pattern similar to that
of the late 1930s through the 1940s, when the Northeast was hit by two
major storms," he said.

The
15 British hostage soldiers in Iran is further exacerbating the rise of
oil prices, added to the seasonal refinery demand pickup due to the
coming US summer driving season.