CBS Downplays
Terrorisms Impact on Oil
BusinessWeek cited oil analysts who
estimated much higher costs from terrorism.
By Ken Shepherd
Business & Media Institute
June 9, 2006
The threat of terrorism is just one factor in the price
of a barrel of oil, but many estimates show its a significant one.
Yet CBSs Anthony Mason recently gave a low-impact report of how
much terrorism and political instability factor into oil prices.
By some estimates, the troubles in Iraq and Iran have
added a five- to 10-dollar terror premium to the price of every
barrel of crude, noted Mason in his June 8 Evening News report on
what might happen to oil prices in the wake of terrorist Abu Musab
al-Zarqawis death at the hands of a U.S. military strike team.
Yet in March, a month after Iran announced its
resumption of uranium enrichment, BusinessWeek found a much higher
terror premium than what Mason reported. In the
March 13 issue,
writer Peter Coy asked oil analysts James Ritterbusch, Sarah
Emerson, and Tim Evans for their estimates on how much terrorism
plays into the cost of oil.
Coy reported that Emerson put the terror premium at
$15, Evans at $25-$30, while Ritterbusch refused to go with a
particular number although he believes terrorism and geopolitical
fears factor into the price of oil.
CBSs Mason didnt give a source for his much lower
estimate and didnt acknowledge that it might be on the low end.
The Business & Media Institute has repeatedly
documented the medias preference to speculate on price
gouging by oil companies while ignoring or downplaying the
impact that political
instability
has in oil prices.
