Oil prices soon to rise

We've all suspected that oil prices will begin to rise dramatically as soon as the election is over, but now they may do so even faster since Kuwait has lost (at least temporarily) about a quarter of its refining capacity to an explosion:

Kuwait has shut down its Shuaiba oil refinery after an explosion hit the 200,000 barrel-per-day plant, a Kuwaiti energy official said.

Mohammed al-Ajami, a spokesman for the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, said on Saturday that the blast took place at Shuaiba, just south of Kuwait City, at 1.30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT) in an oil pipeline.

He said there were no casualties. But Dubai-based Al Arabiya television had earlier reported that there were some casualties.

The installation was gradually closed down, but the fire, which al-Ajami described as serious, had not been brought under control.

Al-Ajami said terrorism was not believed to be the cause for the blast. He also said that an investigation was under way to determine the reasons for the incident, which are currently believed to be technical.