The Ceiling Becomes The Floor

I wrote in my last post about the inevitability of oil hitting $100 a barrel in 2008 - though I didn't expect it to happen on the second day of 2008! The graph from the excellent NYMEX web site shows the moment around midday New York time yesterday when the $100 ceiling was broken through.

I have written about oil and energy in several posts (here and here for example). There is no doubt that oil matters for Ireland's energy future and the wider economic outlook (including consumer spending). There's a very useful and timely primer on oil, by the way, over at the BBC business news web site.

A strengthening euro has protected us to some degree from rising oil prices, but it cannot protect us completely.

So the $100 price ceiling has now become the floor, and we can expect new highs to be reached in the months and years ahead.