Oil Prices - Low Low today

[jdbuckshot]

is this thing at the bottom?

I may buy some today - whats your thoughts?

[stang67]

This isn't necessarily a good thing.

[dukluk]

Hit $45.34 per barrel, this morning....the day'um gasoline oughta be $1.50 gal. at the pump.

[davidees]

Still $2.38 in Robinsonville at 4:15 this afternoon.

[Seymore]

Oil prices have been pushed down due to OPEC and Saudi Arabia manipulating supply and cost. On the surface that sounds strange. Why would they flood the market with oil and lower the price per barrel? The answer is to make the price per barrel lower than the break even point for oil shale fracking. That runs between $50 and $60 per barrel. Now that the Keystone pipeline is all but dead I would anticipate the price to start edging up in a few months once they are convinced they have killed that technology growth, at lease for the time being. The pipeline is needed to get the oil from shale in the North to the refineries on the Gulf Coast. This country hasn't built a new refinery is many many year. I think actually back to the 1970's. Nobody wants the thing in their backyard but they bitch when prices get high. We are trying to refine many times the demand of the 1970's using 1970's tech.

The entities really getting hit hard by this are Russia and Venezuela. Both countries are having their own economic meltdown as a result of this. US consumers per the retail numbers given in February by the Dept. of Commerce show February as having a drop in retail spending. The consumer hasn't bought into this low oil price to turn loose of any extra disposable income that was generated by the manipulated oil price. Government economist were surprised at the drop. Contrary to popular opinion Americans aren't dumb. They may not know the exact reasoning for why gas has dropped but know enough to know it doesn't last.

[Wildfowler]

The dollar is strengthening right now too. I think the dollar is at a multi level high right now? This is also having an effect on the price.

The price for gasoline at the pump never drops as quickly as the price of a barrel of oil drops, but it sure goes up when the price of oil goes up.

[stang67]

This country hasn't built a new refinery is many many year. I think actually back to the 1970's. Nobody wants the thing in their backyard but they bitch when prices get high. We are trying to refine many times the demand of the 1970's using 1970's tech.

While new refineries don't exist, as you say, existing ones are being improved. Much investment is being made at home to increase throughput. And much investment is always being made to meet ever-tightening gov't regs that make a gallon of gas and diesel more expensive, on their own. I would know.

Latest Keystone Pipeline news should tells us all we need to know about how much our gov't cares about gas prices, economic development, and, most importantly, energy independence.

[wudduk]

From what I've been told by somebody in the know, its not at the bottom yet. Gas stations charge what they charge because they know we will pay it.

[4dawgma]

waiting til Wednesdayish to fill up for pay period. "@#$%#" obama "@#$%#" opec matter o fact phuc