High oil price hurts customers but helpful to alternative energy

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina it has been bad news for North American consumers, with the oil price reaching $70. While that price has since slipped back, Insight Investments and Old Mutual are two fund groups confident the price is going to start rising again, or at least stay above $50, with negative knock-on effects for consumers. Short-term Katrina's impact in the Gulf of Mexico has been to temporarily shut down 10.8% of the US's daily oil production. At the same time four refineries remain offline, equivalent to 5% of total refining capacity for the US. This is coinciding with...