Do oil price spikes cause recessions? It is a controversial question and one that is very much a propos. It is all very chicken-and-egg, of course. If oil is soaring because of overheating economic demand, is it the demand or the ensuing rise in oil prices that causes the crash?

Britain’s Centre for Economic Policy Research has had a go at trying to answer this with a report written by Natalie Chen and Andrew Oswald from the University of Warwick and Liam Graham from University College London. The twist was that the academics used terrorist incidents as an instrumental variable. Roughly, they looked at the impact of a sharp rise in oil prices on the profitability of various industries. By using terrorist events, they stripped out macroeconomic drivers and focused on something that was separate from the business cycle.

The researchers say their findings are not definitive but that they “lend” support to the claim that oil-price spikes can be a source of recessions. They urge caution, however, in the absence of study on the impact of microeconomic mechanisms linking oil to recessions. That may be the key to unravelling the oil-macroeconomy relationship, they conclude.

Following an acrimonious and drawn-out takeover battle for Hungary’s MOL, Austrian oil and gas group OMV finally did as expected: it threw in the towel.

Yet according to OMV Chief Executive Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, the consolidation pressures in central Europe — the strategic rationale which prompted him to launch the unsolicited offer in the first place — remain in place.

Analysts and investors have often pointed out that OMV could do better with the cash then parking it in a MOL stake. And while OMV sat tight and awaited the outcome of its unwanted approach, MOL busied itself stringing together a network of strategic allies, entering into ventures with Cez from the Czech Republic and Oman’s OOC.

Meanwhile, Ruttenstorfer says he is determined to keep his 20.2 percent stake in MOL, at least for the time being — but he did not rule out a sale in the mid or long-term.

With precious few takeover targets in the region in view, there is not much else Ruttenstorfer can do for now. 

For OMV, its MOL stake could be a lever to get,  for example, a share in MOL’s refining business. 

Ruttenstorfer cited Lukoil’s and Gazpromneft’s interest in the region as one example for increasing consolidation pressures. Though any big investor would likely await the outcome of the European Union ruling on MOL’s 10-percent voting cap, which poses a major obstacle to whoever would set their eyes on a takeover of  the Hungarian group. 

Once this issue has been cleared, OMV’s stake in MOL could prove a valuable card in the consolidation game — whether it would be in a match against one of eastern Europe’s energy majors, or even  a retake of the battle between OMV and MOL.

(Reuters photo: OMV Chief Executive Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer)

Industry analysts and executives are sceptical a planned opening of the war-torn country’s oil industry to foreign investment will bring big profits for the Western Oil Majors, or boost output as much as hoped.

While many have lined up to register to bid for Iraqi oil deals, actual bidders may be thinner on the ground and deals may take longer to conclude than the government plans.

John Mitchell, an energy specialist at the Royal Institute of International Affairs said recent rises in Iraqi production to around 2.3 million barrels per day were largely due to the improving security situation. If Iraq wants to make big jumps from here on, it will need to invest a lot of money in, and apply a lot of technology to, its oilfields.

A delay on the involvement of foreign oil companies could make it harder for Iraq to meet its ambitious output growth targets.

“If the invasion was about oil, let the record show it has been more botched than even its toughest critics claim. Iraqi oil production went into steep decline after the war, and has only recovered to Saddam-era levels on a consistent basis this year,” Raad Alkadiri, Senior Director in the Markets and Country Strategies practice, at industry consultants PFC Energy said in a note to clients.

European industry is suffering under soaring energy costs. Profit warnings are becoming more common and industry leaders predict plant closures and job losses may follow.

Companies say they are doing all they can to improve their game but want government help.

Britain’s Castle Cement, part of Germany’s Heidelberg Cement, is a case in point. Its cement furnace in Stamford, England, is replacing much of its coal with  alternatives  — tyres, bone meal, paper – as $140 a barrel oil sends all fuel costs skyrocketing.   

Industry says tax cuts and energy market reform is needed. Big energy users also want an easing in EU plans for tough CO2 emissions cuts, arguing the measures will simply put them out of business and shift production to places like China which have less efficient and more environmentally damaging production processes.

So, are governments doing enough to support the continent’s core industrial base?

Should certain sectors of the economy be singled out for special support?

Will planned European CO2 cuts, which are not matched by the U.S. and China, wreck the continent’s industrial core without helping the environment?

Here’s a look at the average daily volume of oil futures on the NYMEX expressed in terms of global consumption of oil. As the chart makes clear, the number of paper barrels traded every day on the NYMEX is now over three times the number of actual barrels consumed every day worldwide. On Friday, as oil surged to a record $139 a barrel, the volume on the NYMEX was over 5.2 times average daily consumption. The chart gives some indication of the boom in oil and commodity futures in general.

T. Boone Pickens told broadcaster CNBC he expected crude oil prices to keeping going up. “I think we’ll get to $150 this year,” he said. Analysts at Birinyi Associates, Inc. today put his projections over the past two years against the movement in the price of oil. They concluded the oil investor’s views shouldn’t be ignored.

1 Was surprised oil went down this much (19 month low) still thinks oil will average $70 in 2007
2 Could exceed $70 in 2007
3 Oil will reach $75 before $55
4 Oil will likely reach $78 this year
5 Says $4.50 gasoline will be possible this summer
6 Oil will average $70 for rest of 2007
7 “No way you can be short oil”
8 Oil may surpass $100 on a geopolitical event and will rise to $80 within 6 months
9 $80 oil could push US into recession
1 0 Oil to retreat before hitting $100
1 1 Oil to hit $100 within a year
1 2 Oil to hit $100 within 6 months
1 3 $100 oil will be routine
1 4 Oil to decline by $10 to $15 in 2nd quarter, which would be to $83
1 5 Oil to stay above $100 in 2nd quarter
1 6 Reversed bet on oil and thinks it will now rise. Covered his short and is now long
1 7 Thinks oil wil rise to $150 by end of 2008
1 8 Thinks oil will go to $150 in 2008

– Graphic courtesy of Birinyi Associates, Inc.