'Oil will hit $150 again'

That's the headline from an article in Petroleum News. You can find the full article here.

The article features some thoughts from Roger Herrera, a "longtime oil industry observer."

Herrera said it was high oil prices that drove the global economy into recession last year - and that the direction of crude prices will play a major role in determining what happens with the economy.

From the article:

“It’s clear to me that $150-a-barrel oil was the trigger for the recession,” said Herrera, who has spent more than 40 years observing oil prices, ...

“The prices put extreme stress on the economy — on the airlines, trucking companies, even consumer’s pockets,” Herrera said in the Aug. 10 interview. “And if you look at the economic pattern in the past, you’ll see that when the price of oil goes up, recession follows.”

Back in May, an oil industry analyst said $200 oil was on the horizon.

Both seem like pretty darn good arguments for a continued focus on and investment in renewable fuels like ethanol.

(Wondering how much oil ethanol replaces? Check out this post.)