Shell says `speculation' inflating oil prices Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's biggest oil company, warned that the oil price was being driven by "speculation" and "has a political premium in it rather than actually some of the fundamental drivers". The comments by Peter Voser, chief financial officer, came after the group reported that third-quarter earnings, on a current cost of supply basis, fell 8 per cent to $6.39bn as a result of lower refining margins and sales volumes.
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's biggest oil company, warned that the oil price was being driven by "speculation" and "has a political premium in it rather than actually some of the fundamental drivers".
The comments by Peter Voser, chief financial officer, came after the group reported that third-quarter earnings, on a current cost of supply basis, fell 8 per cent to $6.39bn as a result of lower refining margins and sales volumes.
This is a "don't raise your expectations too much" exercise for the financial analysts. But it's still interesting to see that refining margins have crashed lately, resulting in gas prices that are not so high when compared to other times when oil was cheaper. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
All that money has to go somewhere... "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
