It did stumble a bit this week, spooked by the spike-up in oil prices created by the spreading unrest in oil-producing countries, notably Libya.
The immediate cause is fear of disruptions in the supply of oil due to unrest in the Middle East.
No doubt, the immediate cause for the sudden rise in the price of oil and gasoline is fear of disruptions in the supply of oil due to unrest in the Middle East and the growing risk of war with Iran.
Many oil analysts expect that oil and commodity prices will remain at elevated levels at least in the short-mid term given political unrest in some oil producing countries and continued economic growth in emerging economies.
High oil prices, labour unrest, a severe energy crisis and the country's inability to forge closer economic ties with its huge neighbour, India, add to the woes.
With global growth bolstering the travel industry since the recession, leading online agency priceline.com incorporated (PCLN) has bucked rising oil prices and global unrest to trade near all-time highs.
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Huge problems await the next government: social unrest in the oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta, grinding poverty in the north, everywhere a collapse of long-neglected infrastructure, particularly in telecommunications and electricity.
Supply has recently been threatened by the internal unrest in several large oil producing nations.
As Colonel Gadhafi stubbornly strikes back at a rebel army that has taken part of Libya and many of the most important, oil rich regions, protracted civil unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has had worldwide repercussions, not less in the equity markets.
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The first three months of 2011 were volatile for global stock markets as geopolitical unrest resulted in surging oil prices and a natural disaster led to a nuclear crisis in Japan, but initial public offerings were resilient, with U.S. deals helping North America lead the way in volume, proceeds and returns according to a report from IPO research firm Renaissance Capital.
We are in consultation with the IEA and the oil-producing states -- of which Saudi Arabia is one -- about the unrest in the Middle East and the effect on oil prices.
Oil prices jumped on initial news that unrest in Egypt could topple the government and create a shipping bottleneck at the Suez Canal.
Uncertainty over the situation in Saudi Arabia has rattled markets in recent weeks, as fears that social unrest could spread to the oil-rich kingdom could cause substantial supply disruptions and derail the global economic recovery.
Stock market investors are very nervous about the Middle Eastern unrest predominately because of fears about disruptions to oil supplies.
The biggest risk for oil companies like Exxon Mobil is the possibility of the unrest spreading to other OPEC nations, notably Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. and Kuwait.
Unrest in the Middle East can tighten global oil supply.
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But a U.S official with access to U.S. intelligence told CNN "little to no disruption of Libyan oil production" has been seen as a result of the unrest.
The petroleum industry is not price gouging, either: In an effort to stem slowing demand from consumers reluctant to pay higher prices, fuel refiners and retailers have been eating some of the added cost incurred lately as unrest in Libya and a weakening dollar push crude oil prices higher, according to the Reuters report.
The unrest over the trade talks follows two strikes in the oil industry.
Oil prices peaked through the first half of the year on civil unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, with a protracted civil conflict in Libya shutting off approximately 1.5 million barrels of daily production.
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This is comparable to what we have seen recently when oil price went up by 13% since the beginning of the MENA unrest.
We have encountered in this calendar year a number of economic headwinds that could not have been foreseen -- the tsunami -- earthquake and tsunami in Japan that disrupted global supply chains, the unrest in the Middle East, which had an impact on oil prices, and the situation in Europe.
To be fair and blunt the political unrest in the Middle East will have more to do with pushing oil prices higher than monetary policy for the time being.
Traders also got confirmation that the consumer is thus far relatively unfazed by the unrest in the Mideast, the tragedies in Japan, and the increase in oil prices.
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The price of oil and gold are likely to rise for the final 3 months of QE2 buttesssed by the widespread geopolitical unrest, and the approach of the summer driving season.
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