Oil prices are below forty bucks a barrel.

I continue to blame George Bush.

Forty bucks may be the new benchmark. OPEC production cuts are on the way.

OPEC production cuts are on the way.

No, official OPEC production cuts are on the way. Likely that just means an increase in cheating, particularly with prices down, and some members desperate for revenue...

See, Rand? The war was all about the ooooiiiillllll!!!!!

('Course, when oil was above $45 a barrel, it was about the oil, too. Nice to have an all-purpose excuse, eh?)

At least some good news.
But China still keeps increasing its oil appetite. Another terrorist attack wave by Al-Qaeda, this time in Saudi Arabia's main oilfields (such as Ghawar) or to oil tankers around the straight of Ormuz could send prices up again. I doubt any of these will be problems in the short term, but this ain't over until Al-Qaeda is dismantled.

I thought that OPEC's preferred oil price range was $22-$28...

Guess they've gotten a little too fat and happy off of the high prices, and don't want to give it up.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Monday as OPEC member Saudi Arabia cut exports, helping to pull the market back from a five-month low hit earlier amid a bout of fund selling.

U.S. light crude was up 1 cent at $40.72 a barrel after falling to $40.25, the lowest price since the end of July. London's Brent crude was up 20 cents at $37.58 a barrel after a $2.29 drop on Friday.

Yup. I also blame George Bush. ;-)

Bad Corn King. Bad.