Gas prices - think they will stay low

[BobJohnson]

Any gas price futures experts out there? Hoping gas prices remain somewhere anywhere close to where they are now for the boating season. Right now in the Chicago suburbs, we are around $ 1.40 / gal for the 87 octane. I do a good job of not worrying about what I spend on boat gas while using the boat, as I just consider it a cost to play. But, spending a whole lot less this summer, sure would be nice!

 

[stever40]

We are at $1.40 as well. Hope they stay there for a while. My guess is it'll stay low until elections. Then all hell will brake loose.

 

[scokill]

It's based on global supply and demand. Demand will go up in summer and prices will too. How much? Who knows, but it will go up in the summer. It would be nice if it stayed this low...could pay for some upgrades!

 

[Noko]

The radio has news about gas prices staying low for 2016. We are at $2.18/gal in Alaska. I would love to get a couple hundred gallon tank at my lake house filled while prices are low.

 

[Speedling]

Find it $1.25 here in Indiana the last few days. Filling up!

 

[MattFX4]

What stinks is I was used to it being $3 a gallon. Now it's low, and been low, It will be a shocker again when it does go back up.

 

[Britboater]

I here its forecasted to be low till at least late 2016, but I'd assume with Iran's sanctions lifted even more oil will be available now so pushing it down further!
As long as OPEC suffer, I'm good .

 

[Speedling]

If I recall everything correctly, we are having cheaper oil due to the fracking here in the states. This goes for Natural gas as well.
http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/15/fracking-boom-bust-opec/
The OPEC basically is just forced to match or beat the US prices which was hard to do. The fact that they actually CAN kinda angers one when you think that they could have lowered the price a LONG time ago just not have given themselves as big a paycheck.

Next up was Russia. They and many other countries that export oil just CANNOT do what OPEC is doing. That means they are just losing money hand over fist, or closing shop. These countries are getting hit HARD as they are in the recession as much as ever yet.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/14/news/economy/russia-30-oil-budget/

As of this writing, I see crude between 29-33 dollars which means we are already there and the countries that can't compete lose out. It's capitalism for sure but we seem to be the only country winning this time!

So fill up the boat, truck, and lawnmower knowing that you may actually have american made fuel in there!

 

[octavio3311]

I predict that gas prices will start climbing as soon as I pull my boat out of winter storage.

 

[waterboy]

I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I have mixed emotions on the low gas prices. Yeah they are great at the pump for us but... Tell that to the folks down in Texas, Oklahoma, Dakotas, Alaska, etc. The oil producing states are getting whacked hard right now. Business shutting down and affecting the common guy as much as the businessman down there. The ripple effect is that manufacturing industry across the US is hurting now as a result too.

I am no oil expert but I have heard that the price needs to be around $50 a bbl for businesses being able to make some money. Yeah OPEC and Russia and other countries are hurting but so is the US at this price.

Yes I am filling up my truck and enjoying the prices but the impact is pretty hard on the US now too (and our 401K's).

 

[Speedling]

I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I have mixed emotions on the low gas prices. Yeah they are great at the pump for us but... Tell that to the folks down in Texas, Oklahoma, Dakotas, Alaska, etc. The oil producing states are getting whacked hard right now. Business shutting down and affecting the common guy as much as the businessman down there. The ripple effect is that manufacturing industry across the US is hurting now as a result too.

I am no oil expert but I have heard that the price needs to be around $50 a bbl for businesses being able to make some money. Yeah OPEC and Russia and other countries are hurting but so is the US at this price.

Yes I am filling up my truck and enjoying the prices but the impact is pretty hard on the US now too (and our 401K's).

True enough!
So really we as consumers need to consume 2x the gas to put these guys back in business. So fill it up and enjoy people!!!

 

[Bruce]

Oil prices will rise as production decreases. Many wells and fracking operations especially are losing money at this point. The search for new sources of oil has slowed and existing sources are shutting down. This will cause a rebound in prices but who knows how soon it will be. In the meantime many oil workers are being laid off.

 

[BigN8]

I just drove to Lubbock and back. There were a bunch of pump jacks not running. I would say 70% were idle.

 

[Master-Spud]

I work for an oil company in Canada and it's definitely rough times right now. Unless there is a coordinated cut amongst Russia and opec countries I don't see the prices rising any time soon. Because of the shale play in the states they are able to bring production up in a hurry. But I can assure you basically everyone right now is losing money or close to it in the oil field be it Opec, the US or Canada. Sure some worse than others. The company I work for has reduced it's labor force by over 30% and more to come in the coming months. All aspects of the economy are going to be hurt by this, when all these companies are pulling billions of capital spending out of their budgets that effect will trickle down to other industries. Less people buying luxury items, housing prices falling in oil patch areas, less tourism. So I hope it comes back up some for all involved. Don't think we need to see $100 oil, but 60 to 70 I think is a good balance.

 

[Scuba_ref]

Well I feel like I'm doing my part because we still pay over $2.00 per gallon for 87 octane gas here in central Washington. If I drive 35 miles south then the price drops nearly 50 cents a gallon.

 

[pagekl]

For everything there is a "cause and effect". I like the low fuel prices and greed on the part of oil companies and states where the gas tax is high have contributed to this bubble bust. No sector or market can sustain inflated prices for too long. Oil companies have had and will have again at some point when they will be rolling in it again. For the guys and gals who's job are lost as a result of what is happening now, I feel for them. I think with most things, there are too many hands in the cookie jar and as long as those hands that are in the jar are getting a cookie, they could care less about who or what they hurt.

 

[billyb]

I read a local article today that said it was at .99 a gallon.

 

[Julian]

OPEC is intentionally keeping production up in an effort to drive the new, more expensive, oil production out of business (shale oil etc). Adding Iran to the international market won't help. And those countries that are totally dependent of oil to function (Nigeria, Venezuela etc) are in deep doodoo!

 

[waterboy]

The world is playing a game of chicken right now. Nobody is going to win and we'll see how ugly it gets. I think most of Russia's current saber rattling has to do with trying to distract the problems at home.