As the US strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) approaches capacity (721.5 million barrels filled out of a total possible 727 million, and will be filled by January 2010), the federal government will fade out of the oil-buying business. Some bearish traders believe that this factor can weigh in on prices, since most petroleum stocks in the United States are government-held rather than private. Bullish traders have also used the filling of the Chinese SPR as a reason that oil should go much higher.

In my father’s house are many mansions. Surely one of them has a room with no elephants in it….

Not to crunch too many metaphors right here at the top, but a consensus seems to be firming up in the animate jello of the Internet that we have entered the Season of the Witch. An odor of ripeness fills the virtual air — something between dead carp and apples baking.

Over the past year, Brazil has established itself as one of the most exciting markets in the world for investors. Its Bovespa stock index is up 55% this year. And the discovery of the huge new Tupi oil field off its east coast has led some investors to refer to Brazil as the “New Saudi Arabia.”

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said yesterday (Thursday) that it would keep production quotas at 24.845 million bpd and urge members to adhere to targets, as global demand has yet to return in full.

BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) yesterday (Wednesday) announced a “giant” oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico that may contain more than 3 billion barrels of oil. The find is evidence of the Gulf’s resurrection as a major oil producer, as well as the great lengths – or depths – to which major oil companies must go to find vibrant wells.

It wasn’t long ago that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s decision to nationalize state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) resulted in a failed coup that very nearly cost him his post.

Stocks push the currencies higher…Norway pulls out of recession…Jackson Hole boondoggle…Oil helps rally commodity currencies…And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Experts roundly agree that the recession is only a short-term blip in the long-term escalation of oil prices. And this time, there are 1.05 trillion reasons why oil is going to climb well past its peak last year.

Venezuela’s oil production is already below 1997 levels, but could fall significantly lower as the country’s president, Hugo Chavez, has alienated oil service companies by refusing to pay their fees, and in some cases, seizing their assets.

Euphoria managed to out-run swine flu last week as the epidemic-du-jour, with “consumer” confidence jumping and the big bank stocks nudging up. The H1N1 virus fizzled for now, at least in terms of kill ratio, though we’re warned it might boomerang in the fall with a vengeance. No one was surprised to see Chrysler roll over like a possum on a county highway, but the memory of their muscle cars will linger on like a California surfing song. Here in the northeast, where Sundays are not spent at the NASCAR oval, the spring foliage reached the tenderly explosive stage and it was hard to feel bad about anything.