NATION : Persian Gulf War Could Push Oil to $100 a Barrel, Congress Told
The price of oil could easily “explode” to $100 a barrel if war broke out in the Persian Gulf, a panel of experts told a Senate committee today.
“There’s no limit,” said John Lichtblau of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation. “It depends on how much panic there is.”
With the Bush Administration rattling sabres in Iraq’s direction, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), presiding over a hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, echoed growing concern in Congress about what will happen at the pump if war breaks out.
“The day the war starts, prices will explode,” said Lichtblau, one of several experts from the oil industry who appeared before the panel.
Oil prices hovering in the $33-per-barrel range could easily triple, said Prof. Fariborz Ghadar of George Washington University’s business school. “I would not be surprised if oil prices reached $100 per barrel,” Ghadar said.
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