the only game in town

"Oil has become the only game in town," said Fadel Gheit, senior vice-president of oil and gas research at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. "Every other investment vehicle has disappointed over the last 12 months."

A lingering worry among analysts is the world's limited excess capacity, or supply buffer, which is hovering around one per cent above daily global consumption of 82 million barrels per day. Any prolonged supply disruption is likely to push prices even higher. '

© The Canadian Press 2004