In the energy market Monday, oil gave up more ground, with crude for December delivery closing at $54.95/barrel, down $2.09. Gasoline for December delivery dropped 6.5 cents, to $1.1746/gallon.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil said Sunday that the oil cartel may have to wait until December to take action to reach an oil price of $70 to $90 a barrel, since the impact of its latest supply cuts was not clear yet.

But OPEC’s emergency cut that began November 1 “did not mop up excess supply in the market - and another cut in December … may need the cooperation of non-OPEC members to have any teeth,” said Thomas Hartmann, of Altavest Worldwide Trading.

In the meantime, “the continued rumblings of OPEC moving yet another meeting up ahead of schedule to continue slashing output, coupled with the U.S. entering peak heating demand season are helping set a floor under prices,” wrote

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In the energy market Monday, oil sank below the $60 benchmark, with crude for December delivery closing at $59.33/barrel, down $3.08. December reformulated gasoline lost 6.2 cents, to $1.3059/gallon.  Early in the day, crude had fallen to $58.32, its lowest level since February, 2007, and yesterday there weren’t enough buyers to push it back over $60.

“Bullish news today on top of the recent Chinese stimulus package and news of Saudi Arabia’s supply cuts failed to overcome economic concerns,” said Sucden Research analyst Michael Davies.

Among that bullish news was a report that militants are threatening to renew attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria. A few months ago, that would have automatically shoved the oil market higher. No longer.

Oil prices will likely “keep skipping along bottom here at the $60 per barrel range until we see the fully-implemented OPEC cuts and some winter demand data hitting the market,” said Neal Ryan,

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In the energy market Tuesday, oil slid lower, with crude for November delivery closing at $70.89/barrel, down $3.36 on its last day as front-month contract. November reformulated gasoline fell 2.8 cents, to $1.6919/gallon.

“The dollar strength, expiration issues and usual trading activity has been pushing the market around, but it’s really going to gyrate on what OPEC announces and if the participants believe there will be any concrete follow through by them,” said Neal Ryan, of Ryan Oil & Gas Partners.

Ryan noted that “even bold announcements by [OPEC members] in the last few years have been greeted with a lot of skepticism in the market because of the lack of follow through or what I call ‘fun with numbers’ accounting they use.”

He concluded that, “The Saudis are the only member of the cartel with the production wiggle room to accomplish anything, so I’m doubting we’ll see anything more than

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In the energy market Monday, oil rallied off of Friday’s plunge, and last week’s overall 17% decline, with crude for November delivery pushing back over the $80 mark to close at $81.19/barrel, up $3.49. November reformulated gasoline rose 11.1 cents, to $1.9176/gallon.

In the energy market Thursday, crude for November delivery plunged, closing at $93.97/barrel, down $4.56. November reformulated gasoline fell 10.5 cents, to $2.255/gallon. Many traders are throwing up their hands over the volatility.

Crude oil futures zoomed more than $16 a barrel yesterday (Monday) - and traded as high as $130 a barrel - thanks to a steep decline in the U.S. dollar and speculation that the Bush administration’s plan to bail out the financial sector might actually jump-start the U.S. economy. The record single-trading-session gain came on a day when CNNMoney.com republished a brand new Fortune magazine story in which author and noted "peak oil pundit" Matthew R. Simmons stated that crude prices were headed for $500 a barrel. At that price level, gasoline would cost more than $10 per gallon. Crude oil for October delivery soared $16.37 a barrel, or 15.7%, to close at $120.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (CME). The gain surpassed the previous price-gain record for a single day of $10.75, a move that occurred on June ...