By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 28 -- A crude oil price spike to $100/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange would slow the US economy but probably not cause a recession, Standard & Poor's Rating Services analysts said.
Stressing that S&P was not forecasting $100/bbl oil, analysts have considered what might happen if world political events were to trigger such an oil spike.
S&P Chief Economist David Wyss said oil prices at that level could shave 1.5 percentage points off real US gross domestic product growth by yearend 2007, bringing growth down as low as 1%.
"That is not drastic enough, by itself, to throw the US into a recession," Wyss said.