Bob Tippee
Editor

Except for that pesky asterisk, elements of relief from painfully high oil prices are falling into place.

The asterisk points to a footnote that must accompany all market forecasts—the one repeated so often it begins to lose attention. So here it is: *

Relief from stressful oil prices requires changes not only in basic forces of the market but also in extraordinary factors pushing up the price of crude.

In the former category, relaxation of worldwide oil demand seems finally at hand.

Consumption has quit rising in the industrialized world. But it continues to grow elsewhere, especially in rapidly growing countries where government subsidies shield oil consumers from price hikes.

Governments, though, are yielding to the strain. Indonesia, Malaysia, and India are among countries that have announced politically difficult increases in the prices of oil products. China is so far retaining price controls but reimbursing state-owned oil companies in an apparent attempt to prevent shortage during this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.