Crude Oil Prices: Next Stop $200?

Last week, the West Texas crude contract rewrote the record book, going above $110 a barrel for the first time ever.

Because crude has come so far, so fast and shows no sign of stopping, at least one analyst is contemplating something that would have been almost unthinkable just months ago -- the possibility of $200 oil. And not at some distant point in the future. By the end of this year.

The prediction comes in the midst of a slowdown in the U.S. economy that is starting to weigh heavily on the domestic demand for crude. In fact, some analysts are saying that the U.S. is now in a serious recession that will soon spread overseas. ...