"Analysis: Think $100 U.S. Oil Is Bad? It's Really Much Worse"

"MEXICO CITY -- Americans worried about the pain of $100 U.S. oil should worry a lot more.

Although $100 oil is the headline in U.S. newspapers, most refineries that supply fuel to service stations are paying the equivalent of a much higher price -- and those costs are already being felt when consumers fill up their vehicles.

The cause is an unprecedented disconnect between the most visible price of oil -- crude oil futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) -- and the real cost of physical barrels pumped from the Gulf of Mexico, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

This gap is caused by oil traders' growing realization that inventories at the small Oklahoma town of Cushing -- the delivery point for the NYMEX contract -- will likely be awash with crude for months to come due to booming production from Canada and shale oil producing states such as North Dakota."

Robert Campbell reports for Reuters March 9, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Analysis: Oil Over $100 Pressures Asia To Cut Subsidies" (Reuters)