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In the current environment, this sounds a bit contrarian: Many oil and gas executives expect oil prices will drop “significantly” from the current record level to less than $100 a barrel by the end of the year, a new survey conducted by KPMG’s Global Energy Institute showed.

The survey results came as crude-oil futures prices surged to a record of $126.20 a barrel Friday, fueled by weakness in the U.S. dollar, worries over supply disruptions and speculative demand.

About 55% of the 372 financial executives from oil and gas companies surveyed think that crude oil price will drop below $100 by the end of the year, while only 9% believe it will close at above $120.

Some 21% of the executives think oil will close the year between $101 and $110, while 15% think it may end between $111 and $120.

What’s more, the survey found that while 44% of the respondents felt prices would peak by the end of the year, a further 39% thought that they would not peak until after 2010.

Oil prices have doubled over the past year. About 63% of oil and gas executives said that growing demand from emerging markets is the major contributor to the high price of oil.

Many Wall Street analysts have been rushing to revise their oil price forecasts upward recently. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs Arjun Murti argued that the possibility of oil at $150 to $200 per barrel “seems increasingly likely” over the next six to 24 months. In late April, CIBC World Markets wrote in a report that the “unprecedented scarcity” in supply will push oil prices to $150 a barrel by 2010, and $225 a barrel by 2012.

Also worth noting is that many oil and gas executives still do not see renewable energy as a “serious near-term solution” in the energy supply equation, even though they say there should be more investment in the industry. Last year, 60% said that it will not be viable to mass produce any alternative fuels by the year 2010. This year, 54% gave the same response when asked about the year 2015.

“While [the] survey showed that executives view alternative fuels as a long-term solution for the energy supply equation, they see other, existing clean air energy sources as more realistic in the next 20 years,” KPMG said.

Seinfeld’s shifty postal worker Newman described Mother’s Day as “the mother of all mail days,” as cards flowing mom-ward flood the system many times over its normal take. The effect is the same with flower sales - ordering bouquets has long been a standard gift - representing one of the biggest periods of the year for flower retailers. But with weakening consumer spending, and the ever-present fear of a recession, there are some concerns that petaled gifts to dear old mom will take a hit this year.

Edward Weller, who covers 1-800 Flowers for ThinkPanmure, said that “weakness in consumer spending will impact all areas” of retail, including the flower delivery company. While noting that he couldn’t isolate the impact of consumer spending from other factors affecting the company, he said that in order for 1-800 Flowers to combat negative trends, it would have to publicize more. Of course, upping advertising in an attempt to keep sales steady is no one’s idea of a stable near-term business plan.

Less than a half-hour after Weller speculated about an advertising blitz, 1-800 Flowers issued a news release announcing that carnations were making a comeback, “just in time” for Mother’s Day.

“Symbolic of undying love and steadfast loyalty,” the colorful bloom, it said, is working its way from fashion runways to floral bouquets.

“Mother’s day is a floral holiday,” said Jeffery Stein, who covers the company for Soleil-Stein Research. “It’s tough to explain why you didn’t send flowers to your mother.”

1-800 Flowers is going to be hurt by a weaker economy just like everyone else, Stein said, “but our view is that consumer spending will not impact them out of the ordinary. In fact, they might get a larger share because in other holidays it has to compete against other types of gift-giving businesses.”

No one wants to disappoint their mother, but the companies may be seeing some sign of sales weakness. 1-800 Flowers shares are down about 11% since the start of 2008.

Wall Street is on track to open lower Friday as concern mounted over the impact on the economy of a seemingly inexorable rise in oil prices, with a larger-than-expected quarterly loss at American International Group further undermining sentiment.

A news report that Citigroup is considering selling $400 billion in non-core assets in order to restore profit growth also unsettled investors.

According to spread bettors IG Index, the Dow Jones industrial average is expected to open down 105 points at 12,762. Separately, S&P 500 futures were off 6.90 points at 1,385.10, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 6.75 points to 1,958.25.

“One story that could rumble into today is the poor first quarter numbers from insurance giant AIG. News that it is going to raise $12 billion has left investors worried about the state of the company’s finances,” said Claire Collingwood, a dealer at CMC Markets.

Wall Street closed a quiet session with a moderate advance Thursday, with energy and other commodities companies leading the market as oil prices extended their record-breaking run. The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 52.43 points, or 0.41%, to close at 12,866.78, the Nasdaq composite index gained 12.75, or 0.52%, to 2,451.24, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 5.11, or 0.37%, to 1,397.68. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.78% from 3.85% late Wednesday, and light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 16 cents to reach a settlement record of $123.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

ECONOMIC DATA:

• International trade for March, 8:30 a.m. ET, -$60.8 billion estimate

AFTER-HOURS ACTION:

After Thursday’s close, American International Group Inc. said it swung to a first-quarter loss of $7.81 billion because of losses tied to credit swaps and mortgage-related operations, and that it plans to raise $12.5 billion in capital. In other after-hours action, Nvidia Corp.’s first-quarter profit rose 34%, but missed analyst estimates; and VeriSign Inc. reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $44 million, or 21 cents a share, exceeding the mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters of 20 cents a share.