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• 07/09/2007 -- OPEC spare productive capacity 'diminished'
  Increasing global demand for oil and natural production declines have diminished OPEC's excess productive capacity and its power to manipulate oil prices, said Raymond James analysts.
• 07/02/2007 -- Crude tops $70/bbl on NYMEX
  The August contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes pushed past $70/bbl June 29 on the New York Mercantile Exchange to its highest level in 10 months.
• 06/25/2007 -- Higher prices threaten demand
  Demand for crude may fall if prices exceed $80/bbl, said analysts in the Houston office of Raymond James & Associates Inc.
• 06/18/2007 -- OPEC reduces demand forecast
  The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expects demand for its crude to average 30.6 million b/d in 2007, a slight decline of 200,000 b/d from the previous year.
• 06/11/2007 -- Analyst: Good year for independent refiners
  Although the summer season of gasoline demand in the US has barely started, an analyst says, "It already looks like 2007 will be the best year yet for the independent refiners."
• 05/25/2007 -- Market waffles prior to driving season
  Crude futures prices waffled during trading sessions prior to the extended Memorial Day weekend May 26-28 that marked the start of the US summer driving season.
• 05/21/2007 -- Supply fears influence markets
  The June contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes topped $65/bbl in intraday trading May 17 on the New York Mercantile Exchange as unexpected shut-ins of US refining capacity "sent shock waves through the markets," analysts said.
• 05/14/2007 -- Sufficient supply or possible shortage?
  Energy prices fluctuated sharply in early May because of differing assessments of sufficient supplies or possible shortages of crude and petroleum products.
• 05/08/2007 -- Gas tests $8/MMbtu
  The June natural gas contract briefly pushed past $8/MMbtu May 3-4 in a rally by hedge-fund investors that forced traders to cover short positions on the New York market.
• 04/16/2007 -- Supply outlook pressures prices
  Energy prices fluctuated Apr. 9-13 with fast-paced changes in US inventories and political threats to Middle East crude supplies.
• 04/09/2007 -- US gas storage near record high
  The US winter heating season ended Mar. 31 with 1.569 tcf of natural gas still in underground storage, "the second highest level ever," said Robert S. Morris, Banc of America Securities LLC, New York.
• 04/02/2007 -- Crude futures tally $5 price jump
  In overnight electronic trading Mar. 27, crude futures prices jumped more than $5 to $68.09/bbl in New York and to $69/bbl for North Sea Brent in London, marking the biggest 1-day price change since December 2001.
• 03/26/2007 -- Middle East tension hikes oil prices
  Escalation of political tensions Mar. 23-25 appeared to threaten Middle East supplies and set the stage for another likely spike in crude prices.
• 03/19/2007 -- OPEC takes no action
  As expected, ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries made no move either to reduce or to increase production at their Mar. 15 meeting in Vienna, vowing instead to monitor the world oil market until they next meet in June.
• 03/12/2007 -- Energy prices seesaw in early March
  Energy prices dipped in profit taking Mar. 2, ending a stretch of consecutive gains over the seven previous trading sessions.
• 02/23/2007 -- Crude futures price tops $61/bbl
  The April contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes blew past $61/bbl to a 7-week high in intraday trade Feb. 22 in New York.
• 02/19/2007 -- Gas withdrawal fails to move market
  Energy commodity prices fell Feb. 14-15 as traders in the New York market focused on a smaller-than-expected drawdown of US distillate stocks but shrugged off a near-record withdrawal of natural gas from US underground storage during the coldest week of this winter.
• 02/12/2007 -- Crude challenges $60/bbl ceiling
  The March contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes jumped to $59.89/bbl Feb. 9, the highest front-month crude closing on the New York Mercantile Exchange since late December.
• 02/06/2007 -- Cold boosts crude price above $59/bbl
  The March contract for benchmark US crude closed above $59/bbl on the New York market for the first time in 2007 on Feb. 2 on the strength of forecasts that a severe cold front would hike heating demand 36% above normal in the Northeastern US, the largest heating oil market.
• 01/29/2007 -- US gas production, Canadian exports fall
  Supply and demand balance reports issued by Bentek Energy LLC, an energy analyst based in Golden, Colo., have indicated in recent weeks a significant drop in North American natural gas production.