Web site error rocks global oil markets
NEW YORK (Reuters) - World oil prices jumped briefly on Wednesday after a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma -- the No. 62 U.S. media market -- posted an erroneous story about a refinery fire on its Web site.
At 10:14 EDT (1414 GMT), CBS affiliate KOTV reported that a lightning strike had caused a fire at an Oklahoma refinery -- sparking a flurry of excitement among energy traders and boosting U.S. crude prices 40 cents.
The refining company announced the story was "completely wrong" and the station withdrew the story. "All it takes is a screw-up on a Web site to move the market. It just goes to show how tense this market is," said a Houston-based oil trader.
A string of refinery problems in the United States has propelled retail gasoline prices to record highs in recent weeks.
Oops... Must have been a really slow day for the rest of the media world, then. :-D
Rick Wells made the National News on CBS. Story aired Thursday morning around 3am Tulsa time, with one of Rick's Hey What's the Deal stories on Pink Flamingos regarding the fund raising effort for a medical patient.
Not sure if it changed the market price of Pink Flamingos or not.
KOTV might have to give more an an answer than just "whoops."
quote:
Originally posted by AMP
Rick Wells made the National News on CBS. Story aired Thursday morning around 3am Tulsa time, with one of Rick's Hey What's the Deal stories on Pink Flamingos regarding the fund raising effort for a medical patient.
Not sure if it changed the market price of Pink Flamingos or not.
Good grief, is he still around? He annoyed me when I lived in Tulsa to the extent that I could not stand to even surf by KOTV in the mornings. Surely he'll retire soon.
Maybe they should "accidentally" post some stories about how there is a glut of oil, an overabundance of supply and a lack of demand....prices are dropping by the second....and see how that works? [}:)]
QT on denver was advertising $3/gal but that is because the sign got stuck.
$3.09 isn't bad either.
Gasoline also known as Petrol sold for less than 99.9 cents per gallon for the first 100 years after coming on the market. That was before the change over from analog pumps to digital pumps.
I believe it took less than four years to hit $3.00per gallon once it went over the 99.9 cent mark.
Prior to that most service stations, which were privatly owned, changed their prices when the Tanker driver arrived with a new invoice.
um, accidental or not, they should be fined for market manipulation.
i wonder how much someone was paid for the web site "accident"
Did any local media cover this story?
Reuters is the largest international news organization and they covered it...but not the Tulsa World or KRMG or any local television station.