Developed nations' cuts in energy use is one likely cause
By MADLEN READ Associated Press
Aug. 12, 2008, 11:11PM
1Comments 0Recommend Share Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTechnoratiYahoo! BuzzNEW YORK — Oil prices fell again Tuesday, dampened by a stronger dollar and more evidence that developed countries such as the United States are cutting back on energy use.

Light, sweet crude dipped by $1.44 to settle at $113.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling as low as $112.31, a new three-month low. Oil is now nearly $35 below its July 11 record of $147.27.

The International Energy Agency lowered its forecast on Tuesday for oil product demand from 30 developed countries, mostly in Europe and North America, to 48.6 million barrels a day, down 1.3 percent from last year.

The agency cautioned that it is too early to determine whether the recent fall in oil prices is a longer-term trend. It said demand in developing countries could offset declines in developed nations, and that it sees Chinese oil demand continuing to grow at a robust pace.

And some economists have said that given the pullback in gasoline prices, demand could come back if motorists feel more comfortable with the cost of filling their gas tanks. The average U.S. retail gasoline price was $3.799 a gallon Tuesday, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That is down a penny from Monday, and down 31.5 cents from its July 17 record.

But the energy markets — which have seen heavy liquidation from large speculative funds since crude hit its record — continued to make the bet that energy use is on the wane.

A stronger dollar also weighed on oil prices. The euro traded at $1.4914, about the same as late Monday but at its lowest levels since February.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5940177.html


Filipinos resorting to public transport just to get by:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5940177.html
Someone's pockets are getting fatter everyday while everyone starves just to save enough for a bus fare.

you have the answer there already, the dollar is getting stronger against the peso and the investors are trying to recover every cent of their perceived losses of their roi.

According to the news, the reason why the Philippine inflation is high is due to the costs of fuel rising which in turn causes food to also increase:

Philippine July inflation rises to 12.2 percent, highest in 17 years, on food and[b] fuel prices [/b]
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Inflation in the Philippines picked up to 12.2 percent in July, the highest in almost 17 years, amid a rise in food and fuel prices, the government said Tuesday.
The figure represents an increase from 11.4 percent in June, the National Statistics Office reported. The overall annual inflation rate for food alone further climbed to 18.6 percent in July from 17.4 percent in June.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080805/philippines...ation.html?.v=1

As the costs of fuel goes down, oil companies' profits go up as the costs of raised fuel prices at the pumps stay high.
http://www.silobreaker.com/DocumentReader....tem=5_891430661

The prices at the pumps in the Philippines do not reflect the cost per barrel on the world market, but in the US the cost of gas decreases as the costs of oil per barrel also decreases.

What's up with that?