A Decidedly Valuable and Dangerous Fuel

This issue of the Journal of American History focuses on the history of oil, and for good reason. Modern societies as we have known them could not operate without ample and diverse supplies of energy, suggesting that the story of our major fuels can hardly be ignored in any attempt to understand American history. Among energy sources, oil retains a special significance that argues for the special scholarly attention found within these covers. Reflecting oil’s unique strategic importance, Daniel Yergin aptly titled his influential industrial history of the topic The Prize. At the dawn of the twentieth century, coal towered above its rivals as the United States’ dominant source of energy. Ranking a distant second came wood. Until 1902, no American president had ever ridden in an automobile, the machine most closely associated with oil. It was not until midcentury that oil replaced coal as the country’s most used fuel. Over the last three decades of the century, oil jumped well ahead of natural gas, by then its closest rival. The ascendancy of oil involved more than just replacing one fuel with another. Growing consumption of the fossil fuel in liquid form was deeply intertwined with how Americans lived, how they conducted business, and how they fought wars. Thus studying oil is required to understand twentieth-century American history—whether the approach is social, economic, environmental, scientific, political, diplomatic, or military.

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Iran Threatened To Raise The Price Of Oil

Crude oil prices recorded an increase of the longest (rally) in more than one year as the Iranian threat to block transport through the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. consumer confidence beat expectations on this December.

Two things that bring the price of oil for February delivery rose 1.66 U.S. dollars, or 1.7 percent, to 101.34 dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Tuesday (12/27/2011) local time. That's the highest price since 16 November 2011, in which oil prices have risen for six consecutive sessions, which is the longest rally since 8 November 2010.

Meanwhile, Brent oil for determination of February rose 1.31 dollars, or 1.2 percent to 109.27 dollars per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. This European premium contracts for oil in New York to 7.93 U.S. dollars per barrel, is the smallest price difference based on the price determination since 20 January.

The threat of Iran's increasingly bold," said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC, in Texas, Tuesday.

According to the Iranian News Agency, Vice-President Mohammad Reza said Iran would block the transmission through the strait if the country is prohibited from exporting its oil. These restrictions associated with the nuclear weapons program that belongs to the Middle East countries.

The threat does not necessarily have any impact on the market, but if it has to do it (the threat) will have a major impact (on market)," said Schenker.

In addition, oil prices also rose in the U.S. Conference Board's index reached the highest level since April. This condition is also raising the price of oil futures. During the year 2011, crude oil futures have risen 11 percent, while oil prices this past year grew 15 percent.

 news source

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