7:57 am - Oil prices tumble in biggest weekly drop ever

This in turn will affect our palm oil prices.


NEW YORK (AP) - The price of oil recorded itsbiggest weekly drop ever, and a gallon of gas finally pulled back from itsrecord high. So is it time to declare the energy bubble popped? Experts won't go that far just yet. "It's too early to say we've seen the worst of it," said Tom Kloza,publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall,N.J. "We would be Pollyannish if we believe one week represents a trend." Still, with oil recording yet another drop on Friday, some industry expertswho just days ago thought there was more juice left in oil's meteoric run arereconsidering. "If this is not the bubble's implosion, than it's a reasonable facsimile,"analyst and trader Stephen Schork said in his daily market commentary. "Timewill tell. Nevertheless, for the time being we no longer care to hold a bullishview." Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 41 cents Friday to settle at$128.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange -- well below its trading record ofmore than $147 a week earlier. The average price of a gallon of regular gas fell about a penny for the day,to $4.105, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service andWright Express. Diesel prices dipped three-tenths of a cent to $4.842 a gallon. Some analysts said a nationwide average of $4 or even lower could be in theoffing -- almost unthinkable in a summer when there has seemed to be no reliefat the pump -- although they cautioned that there is no guarantee prices willstay low. "We're going to see some relief from that relentless march higher," Klozasaid. Gas may be getting just a bit cheaper, but major changes in how Americanslive and drive are already in motion. Car buyers have been fleeing to more fuel-efficient models. U.S. sales ofpickups and sport utility vehicles are down nearly 18 percent this year throughJune, while sales of small cars are up more than 10 percent. While slashing production of more-profitable trucks and SUVs, automakershave been scurrying to build their most fuel-efficient models faster. Toyota Motor Corp., which hasn't been able to keep up with demand for its46-miles-per-gallon Prius hybrid, said last week it will start producing thePrius in the U.S. and suspend truck and SUV production to meet changing consumerdemands. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. also have announced plans toincrease small car production, and GM has said 18 of the 19 vehicles it islaunching between now and 2010 are cars or crossovers. Some brave traders used the week's pullback in oil prices as a chance to buybarrels that suddenly seemed to be on sale. But oil analysts were advisinginvestors to beware. "Buying here is an opportunity if you are a deep believer in $200 (abarrel), otherwise we think that caution would be better applied," analystOlivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland said in a research note. If oil buyers sense that the slide was overdone, you'll probably notice atthe pump quickly. "If (oil prices) rebound, you're going to see a quick reaction at the gasstation, because their profit margins are so stretched," AAA spokesman GeoffSundstrom said. "They may be very fast bringing prices back up." In other Nymex trade, heating oil futures fell 5.23 cents to settle at$3.6915 a gallon while gasoline futures edged up 0.73 cent to $3.1709 a gallon.Natural gas futures rose 3.3 cents to $10.57 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 88 cents tosettle at $130.19 on the ICE Futures Exchange. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be