I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Professor Robert Hall, of Stanford University, and Masaaki Shirakawa, former Governor of the Bank of Japan, who will deliver keynote speeches this morning, and to all of our distinguished moderators, speakers and discussants.
The most distant futures prices fell from a bit more than $ per barrel just before the Gulf War to $ to $ a barrel a year ago. The current six-year futures contract has risen over the past year to about $ per barrel.