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Looking back to analysts reports from last year, the momentum of crude oil prices seemed hard to counteract. As oil prices rose, many economists predicted long-run oil prices above $200 per barrel based upon growing international demand and a leveling off of global supplies. Forecasting the future path of crude oil prices is significantly more difficult, as international demand patterns and new supply exploration depends on a wide variety of factors that can be difficult to predict.
Many analysts have anticipated a permanent drop in the base prices for crude oil as the world shifts to a more efficient economy based on natural sources of energy, such as wind, solar and hydrothermal energy. There are also seasonal shifts in the market which affect prices as well, as demand for crude tends to be high in the summer when travel and global trade tend to peak, as well as late in the winter when demand for heating oil and commercial transport increase along with consumer behavior. The effects of high crude oil prices are insidiously working their way through the world economy. Because oil is at the core of almost everything we do; any dramatic price shifts are almost immediately reflected in major product segments. From airline ticket prices, to tires, from the price of a grape fruit to a three pound can of coffee. Even the price of electricity is impacted by higher petroleum prices.









