According to David Lichtblau, a vice president at StarMine, a big discrepancy between a SmartEstimate and the consensus number often flags a potential earnings surprise.
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Gas prices have risen about twice as much as crude oil prices, says Ronald Gold, who works with Lichtblau at the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation.
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Lichtblau, chief executive of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation in New York, agrees that Chinese demand is helping to drive up the price of crude oil worldwide.