A personal note. It's 8 am in London and I just got back from walking to the shop to buy Sunday papers (The Observer, Independent, Sunday Times and... Sunday Sport). The Total/Fina filling station next to the Pakistani-owned late-night grocery is still dry: this part of North London (7 miles from Trafalgar Square) has been without petrol for almost a week. The cashier, a Filipino I know by sight, stares nervously back at me thru the plate glass window which has been shattered by angry customers. This is the week when New Labour slipped behind the Tories in the polls for the first time since Tony Blair's electoral landslide in May 1997. Big Oil and the govt aren't even talking any more. Scary stuff, huh? What will happen next? Ask any two economists and get three different scenarios: (a) oil will slip below $18/bbl by next April (Sunday Times, today); (b) oil spot prices may hit $40/bbl in November and even top out at $70/bbl (The Economist on Friday; the Times on Friday). (c) Prices will be held 'within the $22-28/bbl target range' (Opec last week). Watch this space. Mark _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
