Jim Cramer's Mad Money Review

Oil prices plunged by more than $2 a barrel Tuesday on hopes that the inauguration of a new president in OPEC member Nigeria would contribute to a stable supply from the Niger Delta region.
A formal meeting over the weekend between U.S. and Iranian officials also soothed traders' concerns about a potential conflict between the two countries.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery dropped $2.05 to settle at $63.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Before the long weekend, U.S. crude oil climbed more than $1 to $65.20 Friday. Monday there was no floor trade and no closing price in the U.S. because of the Memorial Day holiday.
Brent futures for July lost $1.58 to close at $68.15 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange. In other trading, gasoline futures fell 10.58 cents to settle at $2.2979 a gallon after several refineries restarted on Tuesday. Dow Jones Newswires reported that Alliance Oil's refinery in Belle Chasse, La., and Valero Energy Corp.'s refinery Delaware City, Del., are both restarting. Together, the refineries process 428,500 barrels of crude oil a day.
Traders had bid up futures prices before the Memorial Day holiday, the unofficial kickoff to the summer driving season. However, retail gasoline prices fell last week, the Energy Information Administration reported.
The average retail price for gasoline dipped less than a penny to $3.209 a gallon from $3.218 a gallon in the previous week. Prices, though, are still 34.2 cents higher than a year ago.
Heating oil futures slipped 7.01 cents to finish at $1.8690 a gallon on the Nymex, while natural gas prices fell 4.9 cents to $7.591 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Labels: USO, VLO

Oil prices rose Monday as a winter storm plowed across the United States, spurring expectations of strong demand for heating oil.
The storm dumped as much as 2 feet of snow in the Midwest, grounding hundreds of airline flights and closing major highways. The National Weather Service said New York and northern New Jersey might get up to 6 inches of snow.
"Oil prices have been driven by the weather as what is perhaps the last winter storm of the year passes through the U.S. Midwest toward the East Coast, driving strong demand in heating oil," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 39 cents to $61.53 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at midday in Europe. Friday's closing price of $61.14 was the highest since Dec. 22.
April Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose 50 cents to $61.38 a barrel.
Heating oil prices gained 0.78 cent to $1.7583 a gallon while natural gas futures rose 10.5 cents to $7.860 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Oil prices also were supported by U.S. inventory figures released last Thursday that showed a larger-than-expected decline in distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, as well as a drawdown in gasoline inventories.
Shokri Ghanem, the head of Libya's oil industry, said Monday that he sees U.S. oil prices remaining close to $60 a barrel for the rest of 2007.
"The price will hover around $60 per barrel, maybe moving up or down slightly, for the rest of the year," Dow Jones Newswires quoted him as saying from his office in Tripoli.
Market participants reacted slightly to news that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday his country's disputed nuclear program was irreversible. Iran, OPEC's No. 2 supplier, also said it successfully tested a rocket that went into space.
"The market has largely factored in the geopolitical threat posed by Iran, therefore you don't see a sharp rise in prices," Shum said.
Senior diplomats from the five permanent U.N. Security Council nations and Germany were meeting Monday in London to start work on a new resolution to try to pressure Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, which can lead to the production of nuclear weapons.

Labels: Economy, Oil, Oil Prices, USO