Elanso

Oil reached a record $139.89 a barrel. Four Western companies met with Iraq's Oil Ministry to finalize no-bid contracts to tap Iraqi oil fields, and the Nigerian government distributed billions of dollars of windfall to corrupt state officials. Thirty-five countries and 25 oil companies met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to try to fix global oil prices, which have caused strikes, riots, and inflation around the world. Many OPEC countries blamed speculators for the price increase, as did some representatives of oil companies and oil-dependent industries. United States Energy Secretary Sam Bodman blamed supply and demand, as did lobbyists for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Drivers in the Gaza Strip, where Israel limits fuel supplies and black market gas costs $27 per gallon, used vegetable oil and turpentine as fuel, producing toxic fumes that result in diarrhea and stomach pain. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cancelled four global-warming research expeditions, citing the cost of fuel. American cowboys could not afford to drive their horses to rodeos, and those who lived near the border were filling their tanks in Mexico, where gas is subsidized. Giant iguanas continued their conquest of South Florida, surrounding Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioner Bob Kanjian at a golf course in Lake Worth. "I had 25 to 30 iguanas," he said, "staring at me while I was playing."