Americans are using less oil, 5.3% less than a year ago. That is having an impact on oil prices, when combined with the fact that post-hurricane production in the U.S. is coming back to pre-hurricane levels in the Gulf Coast. As a result, relief at the pump during a period where customers are seeing a lot of bad news about everything else.
From a high of roughly $147 a barrel, oil has slid down to just under $89, a price not seen since early last year. This has a direct effect on what you'll pay at the pump, which you may have already been noticing. Gas is down to a national average of $3.447 a gallon. Experts believe it may edge back down to the $3 a gallon area.
The reversal is striking enough that OPEC is having an emergency meeting to figure out how to handle the slide in prices and how to shore it back up, though so far their production cuts haven't halted the change.
The global slowdown is helping this slide, however when and if economies begin to stabilize, one should expect to see prices start a regular march upward once more.
Oil prices fall lower: a silver lining in all the negative news
Posted Oct 9th 2008 4:45PM by Tobias Buckell
Filed under: International markets, Oil
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-09-2008 @ 6:16PM
JCH said...
You are out of your mind.
For so long Americans have been spoon fed this rubbish that cheap energy created a growth economy.
What it created was the stupid part of a growth economy. New airports instead of buses and trains. Freeways instead of rail. Urban sprawl instead of urban concentration. SUVs instead of hybrids.
Global warming is a hoax instead of science is settled.
Cheap oil has been a catastrophe for this country, and it will be again.
10-10-2008 @ 12:20AM
Blabrmouth said...
This is the way this country was built. On cheap land, with cheap labor, using cheap transportation. JCH, what would make you think we would change if these 3 things are still available?