Black Gold

Crude oil, sometimes referred as black gold, is one of the most important commodities in the world. U.S. consumes about 25% of world oil prduction. Crude oil prices swing widely in times of shortage, oversupply, or major world events. When the price of oil goes up it causes higher transportation cost. This affects company cost of doing business. The increased in oil prices is eventually being passed through to the consumers, which could lead to inflation. Oil producers and refiners benefit from higher crude oil prices.

04-Dec-2008: Oild prices dipped below $44 a barrel.

11-Jul-2008: Oil prices hit a record at $147.27 a barrel.

19-Feb-2008: Oil prices closed above $100 for the first time, settled at USD $100.01 a barrel.

02-Jan-2008: Crude oil prices briefly soared to USD $100 a barrel for the first time.

05-Dec-2007: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to leave its oil production output unchanged.

21-Nov-2007: Crude oil hit USD $99.29 a barrel.

02-Nov-2007: Crude oil for December delivery rose $2.44 to settle at USD $95.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

25-Oct-2007: The Nymex crude contract jumped $3.36 to settle at USD $90.46 a barrel in the U.S.

18-Oct-2007: Crude oil futures surpassed USD $90 a barrel in electronic trading for the first time as the falling U.S. dollar drew new foreign investors and speculators to dollar-denominated energy futures. They settled at USD $89.47 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

BP Plc. (BP) Chevron Corp. (CVX) ConocoPhillips (COP) Exxon Mobile Corp. (XOM) Tesoro Corp. (TSO) Valero Energy Corp. (VLO)

Here is a few Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) that track oil and gas-related companies (chart):

• Oil Services HOLDRs (OIH)
• SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services (XES)
• United States Oil (USO)
• iShares Dow Jones US Oil Equipment & Services Index (IEZ)
• iShares Dow Jones US Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Index (IEO)