Peter Beutel Quotes (44 Quotes)

American consumers spent nearly 10 billion more last week on energy than they did in the same week three years ago. That's not sustainable.

OPEC hawks are still concerned that demand could drop dramatically during the second quarter. But with there being a number of threats to supplies, the cartel did not feel it made sense to cut output.

It does appear we've turned the corner here in this market. They're reacting to the fact that there was less damage than expected, rather than the amount of damage that did occur. Yes, it's going to take time to repair these refineries, and yes there will be at least one day we'll see prices run up. But I think we've probably seen the highest gasoline prices behind us.

They have at this point ceased to be a meaningful cartel at these prices, ... The only reason they hold these OPEC meetings is have an excuse to get out of their own countries, go to Vienna and go on a shopping spree.

At this point it looks like 70 is squarely in the market's sights, and people are talking about it as a done deal, ... The likelihood is that if Katrina goes into the Gulf and we don't know exactly where it will make landfall, anyone short in this market Friday afternoon will panic.

Right away, nationwide, we're going to see an increase of gas prices of 12 cents. We'll see it almost everywhere by Tuesday. In addition, sometime between St. Patrick's Day and the end of the month, I expect to see an additional 12 cents. This is extraordinarily bad news for the consumer.

This is the big one. This is unmitigated, bad news for consumers.

Still, the middle of October is the time for us to look at a top. A number of fundamentals that used to move higher are getting pretty stale. The drop in production from the U.S. Gulf, the Nigerian strike, a lot of these factors aren't getting any worse.

The only good news is that with margins like this, every refiner that can will ramp up output. There may be a long-term change because this storm has focused attention on the need for additional refineries. An aggressive company may agree to jump through the hoops to build the first new refinery in almost 30 years.

U.S. refineries prefer a lighter grade of crude than OPEC can add right now, ... The big problem is the refining issue. Now with another storm threatening the Gulf, and the half the Gulf that avoided Katrina, it has traders spooked this morning. We really don't need another storm near the producing areas at all.

Refinery downtime, heat, hurricanes and fears of terrorism still loom large in this market.

We did have some profit-taking early, but I think a lot of people that were caught behind the eight ball saw that as an opportunity to buy.

If Iran decides for whatever reason to stop shipping oil, or if it wants to go ahead and blockade oil coming out through the Persian Gulf, then we're going to have a lot of problems. If we get a close over 71, then we're going to have to start picking numbers out of the air again as to how high it can go.

It now looks like the post-Katrina high will be the top for a long time. Although the supply picture is the worst it has ever been, the weakening demand picture is an even bigger worry. Demand is shifting underfoot as high prices are felt by consumers.

Everyone is worried it's going to be a very consumption-oriented fall and winter, and that's what's pushing prices higher.

We'll be looking at it (Greenspan's speech) a lot more closely than we normally do, but I don't know if we'd ever look at it the same bond traders do, ... To them everything he says is gospel. It's only once every couple of years we even know what he's saying.

It's going to take a long time before we know exactly how to look at this, what effect Katrina is having long-term. I would like to say for now at least the worst is behind us. What tomorrow brings, particularly on the weather front, remains to be seen. We're still in a tight situation.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. With what's been going on the past few days, it's hard to see a solid reason why prices should be higher today. It's disturbing.

If we pass on the full extent of national gas prices they could be double their level last winter.

Prices seem to be in a trading range between 57 and 64. They are having difficulty moving beyond either of those borders.

We're going to see huge price increases, particularly for Midwestern home owners this winter and if it's a cold winter they will be really hurting. They are already looking at price increases of 40 to 80 percent.

Price declines could be slow this week, maybe with a bubble burst at some point in the future. It does appear we've turned the corner here in this market. I don't think we'll see prices at these levels again anytime in the next five years.

Every time energy prices triple we have a major recession in 1 to 2 years.

It's less than 30,000 barrels a day in a country that consumes 21 million. That's not even rearranging a single deck chair on the Titanic. But psychologically, it has some effect.

There's some apprehension about the report. If we don't see an increase in distillate inventories, traders are going to ask when we will before winter.

This is all about Tropical Storm Rita ... obviously, the last thing that this market needs is for a hurricane to hit the western gulf where it didn't hit last time.

People are not paying very close attention to it, ... At this point this market is just living and dying with every twist and turn of weather report -- we'll probably revisit it later but it's not important until we get Rita out of our systems.

We don't know how much of the refinery is down or for how long. But not to negate the human tragedy, it happened at the worst time of the year seasonally. And it happens at a time the market is nervous and looking for reasons to go higher anyway.

The good news is, we have a week to get ready. The bad news is that the market has all week to react.

With oil stocks so low, there's a huge amount of concern.

I don't see how anyone could approach it with any kind of rationality or logic left.

We can debate what percentage of the profits should be plowed back into the company and what percentage belongs to the shareholders. Not being a shareholder, I'd prefer to see them err in the direction of spending a larger portion on refineries and new (oil and gas) fields and infrastructure.

You don't make a top when things start to look bearish you make it when things look bullish,

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. It's hard to tell at what point consumers will start to balk. It defies the laws of economics.

It's just a matter of seeing how high prices will go before we reach a level that will stop growth.

With another storm threatening the half the Gulf that avoided Katrina, it has traders spooked this morning,

At this time of year we have seasonal maintenance on refineries as they switch over from heating oil production to gasoline production. Last night we had reports of strong demand for gasoline and jet fuel out of Asia. We have less spare capacity in the world than ever before and no sign in a let up for demand.

This is a postcard from another country. If only we could have kept these numbers without the hurricane, this would have been a real sign of hope.

there is something wrong with the market.

If Rita follows through on its course, all rigs in the area will be evacuated and production will be affected, which is exactly what we don't need, and if Rita knocks out any more refineries, we're in real trouble,

By Labor Day weekend, prices will be up 20 cents to 50 cents a gallon,

A combination of cold weather and good economic numbers has sent us higher. This week's data shows that the economy hasn't buckled under the pressure of high oil prices.

It is a country interested in growing rapidly, and one of the big bottlenecks in its growth has been energy. If it was suddenly trying to buy 1.5 million barrels today, it'd sop up most of the surplus right now.

There is a lot of new money coming into the market. With the Iran nuclear standoff and the threat of Nigerian supply disruptions there is a lot to worry about.