Gasoline Price Changes - Federal Trade Commission

THE DYNAMIC OF SUPPLY, DEMAND, AND COMPETITION
45. See Leslie Wines, Strong Steel Gains Seen Slowing, INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY, Aug. 10, 2004. See also
News Release, Nat’l Ass’n of Home Builders, Some Relief in Building Materials Prices Is On the Way, Economists
Say (Oct. 29, 2004) (“Led by scrap steel costs, which soared 80 percent since last year, several key building
materials have posted double-digit increases over the past 12 months. Steel mill products jumped 43 percent, lumber
prices are up 27 percent, gypsum 20 percent and cement 6 percent.”) (on file with author, at http://www.nahb.org).
46. IEA, OIL MARKET REPORT, Dec. 10, 2004, at 42 tbl.2, at http://omrpublic.iea.org/omrarchive/10dec04full.pdf.
During the first quarter, China’s growth in demand for crude oil was 19.3 percent higher than in the previous year;
in the second quarter, it was 24.6 percent higher. Id.
47. EIA, CHINA COUNTRY ANALYSIS BRIEF (July 2004), at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/china.html.
48. IEA, OIL MARKET REPORT, Nov. 10, 2004, at 48 tbl.2, at http://omrpublic.iea.org/omrarchive/10nov04full.pdf.
49. Id. OPEC, supra note 44, at 22 tbl.9; OPEC, MONTHLY OIL MARKET REPORT, Oct. 2004, at 17 tbl.6, at
http://www.opec.org/home/monthly%20oil%20market%20reports/2004/mr102004.htm. See EIA, DOE/EIA-0202 ,
SHORT-TERM ENERGY OUTLOOK, Oct. 2004, at http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/forecasting/steo/oldsteos/oct04.pdf.
50. Joanne Shore & John Hackworth, EIA, World Petroleum Market Changes and Impact on U.S., slide 9 (Oct.
2004), at http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/presentations/2004/opis0410/opis0410_files/frame.htm.
51. EIA, Monthly Energy Chronology - 2004, at December 2004, at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/
chrn2004.html (last modified Dec. 21, 2004).
52. Id. This was the first known attack on a maritime facility since the onset of the war in March 2003.
53. Other pipeline attacks also reduced Iraq’s ability to supply crude oil. On May 8, 2004, for example, a southern
oil pipeline halted pumping to offshore export terminals for approximately 10 days. On June 9, saboteurs exploded
a portion of oil pipeline in northern Iraq, and exports to Ceyhan were suspended until June 23. Attacks also
occurred on various pipelines, including an attack on September 14 that prevented delivery of 200,000 to 300,000
bpd for several weeks.
54. EIA, supra note 51.
55. IEA, supra note 46, at 15.
56. Id. at 16.
57. See Minerals Mgmt. Serv., U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, Release No. 3137, Hurricane Ivan Evacuation and
Production Shut-in Statistics as of Thursday, September 16, 2004 (2004), at http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2004/
press0916.htm.
58. “Shut-in” occurs when wells and mines capable of production are closed temporarily. Shut-in may occur during
times of repair, cleaning, inaccessibility to a market, or weather-related conditions. EIA, Energy Glossary, § S, at
http://www.eia.doe.gov/glossary/glossary_s.htm (last modified Mar. 4, 2005).
59. Minerals Mgmt. Serv., U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, Release No. 3207, Hurricane Ivan Evacuation and Production
Shut-in Statistics as of Monday, November 29, 2004 (2004), at http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2004/press1129.htm.
As of November 29, 196,222 bpd were still shut-in, i.e., approximately 0.99 percent of the 19.7 million barrels
consumed in the U.S. each day. Calculations of shut-in oil do not include production lost to the destroyed platforms.
Id.
CHAPTER 2: WORLDWIDE SUPPLY, DEMAND, AND COMPETITION FOR CRUDE OIL 35