Oil futures rose Wednesday, recovering from early losses as investors set aside concerns about falling U.S. gas demand and focused on overseas oil supplies. At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices rose to a new record over $3.94 a gallon.
"I believe the underlying problem is supply," says Larry W. a Fast Money fan. "As T. Boone Pickens said on CNBC's morning show several days ago, demand is 88M bbl/day and supply was 87M bbl/day."
Gas prices are likely to keep rising as long as crude prices don't collapse, analysts said. And that means prices will soon breach the psychologically important $4 level on a national basis.
Fast Money viewers have offered opinions on who's to blame for the crisis. "Blame the Federal Reserve," writes Buddy from California. "Negative real interest rates will always cause inflation somewhere."
"I'm not sure who to blame for high oil prices," counters Jim from Texas "but the executive order Bush signed back in '00 to refill the strategic reserves has diverted over 750,000 barrels a day of light sweet west Texas crude for the last eight years."
That leads to our Fast Money Reader Poll. Who do you most blame for the high price of oil and gas?
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