Fundamentals Don't Support Current Oil Prices

"The fundamentals don't support the price of oil," according to Wesley Earl, national sales manager of Tampa, Fla.-based Hiller Group, which distributes Chevron and Texaco fuel to more than 350 FBOs. Factors inflating prices include the dwindling number of refineries, especially for jet-A; geopolitical issues; lack of an effective U.S. energy policy; and the low value of the U.S. dollar, Earl said. He added that commodities speculators are behind what he contends is an "oil bubble," and that the price per barrel, fluctuating now to as much as $140, "should really be in the $60 to $80 range." As prices have climbed this year, fuel sales at FBOs have fallen 10 to 20 percent year-over-year.