Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Oil is at the lowest price in a year, now lower than last Nov's 44 a barrel. So why won't the price of gas drop?


U.S. shale-oil drillers, who aren't a part of the output agreement, have been cited as the main culprit, disrupting OPEC's efforts to stabilize oil prices.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-threatens-to-plunge-into-bear-market-territory-2017-06-20

Prices went lower on new signs of rising output from Nigeria and Libya, the two OPEC members exempt from a deal to cut production.

The market is turning lower in part on tanker-tracking data showing unsold crude oil cargoes from Nigeria, he said. U.S. production is also a concern because American drillers locked in prices for future delivery, and so they'll keep pumping even as near-term prices fall, according to Kilduff.

The market has been waiting for signs that OPEC's strategy is achieving its stated goal: driving global crude stockpiles down to the five-year average. Last week, the International Energy Agency warned inventories might not fall to that level until close to the expiration of OPEC's current deal in March.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/oil-prices-are-tumbling-more-than-2-percent-toward-43-a-barrel-right-now.html

8 comments:

  1. Gas stations work on a low margin 'replacement cost' principle, which is why retail gas prices go up so fast and drop so slowly. Volatility in the market delays the drops even more. Interesting article on the current oil market here: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Whats-Wrong-With-The-US-Oil-Export-Boom.html

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  2. In France while oil price were continously falling, governerment created a new tax and kept the gas prices high ( gas taxes are at 78 % in France while at 21 % in the US)

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  3. (In greater Syracuse) At the station around the corner from my house, regular is selling for about $2.20 a gallon. Prices at this station go down as fast as they go up. Ive seen 3 prices for regular in one day, its usually the cheapest in most of Syracuse. Its usually too busy to get in there, so I go to another one in town, its usually 2¢ more a gallon. $2.22 I am more than happy with.
    The full service station down the road a little further is about the same price as the second.... But there is usually a line too long for my taste.
    Of course prices and conditions may vary and there is a station about 4 miles away charging $2.54 for regular, self serve.

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    1. it's 2.99 at the local inexpensive gas station I go to. It's 3.54only a mile away at the freeway exit ramp gas station

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  4. Of course it's hard to compare gas prices of California to other states. One main reason is that the state government in California...a, has one of the highest per gallon tax on gas, and b, the state government has mandated that fuel burned in California must be of a particular recipe that's a little different than say gas from Arizona or Texas, and c, The state government has made it illegal to take a tanker to places like Arizona, fill it up, bring it back, and sell it.

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  5. Regular unleaded is $1.92 here in Central Alabama...

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    1. wow. A dollar cheaper. Damn, and yet, still nearly twice as expensive as the cheapest gas I've seen since 1999 when it was a dollar in March, and shot up to 2 bucks by May that year. I've only seen it get momentarily cheaper at 1.37 last year I think it was. Why it's this expensive at only 44 dollars a barrel though, that needs an explanation. If I'm right, it ought to be half this cost at 44 a barrel

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