Economy Archives - Page 76 of 80 - Fuel Freedom Foundation

Crude falls again, IEA cuts outlook for demand growth

December 12, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

The price of oil continued falling Friday: Brent crude, the international standard, dropped nearly $2, to $62. U.S. WTI crude dropped $2.14, to $57.81, its lowest price since May 2009.

A story by Reuters and CNBC notes that the International Energy Agency is predicting further downward pressure, owing to slack demand:

The IEA, which coordinates the energy policies of industrialized countries, cut its outlook for global oil demand growth for 2015 by 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 900,000 bpd on expectations of lower fuel consumption in Russia and other oil-exporting countries.

Bloomberg: U.S. Refineries Boost Oil Use to Record as Prices Plunge

December 11, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

Refiners in the U.S. used the most oil ever last week, taking advantage of crude prices tumbling to a five-year low.

Plants processed 16.6 million barrels a day of crude in the week ended Dec. 5, the most in Energy Information Administration data going back to 1989. The rise occurred as futures tumbled to the lowest in more than five years after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided Nov. 27 to maintain output levels and as U.S. production climbed to the highest level in three decades.

The access to cheaper domestic crude and natural gas has enabled U.S. refiners to increase operating rates to above 95 percent for the first time since 2005, increasing gasoline supply and driving down prices at the pump to the lowest level in more than four years. Refineries have used more crude in each of the past six weeks as seasonal turnarounds wound down.

Market Watch: Here are the reasons oil is plunging toward $60

December 11, 2014/in Economy, National Security, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

[Slideshow] Oil’s stunning price collapse is undoubtedly one of 2014’s top stories and will remain a major theme for investors in 2015. Here’s a look at the factors that have led to the largest price decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

Indeed, oil futures CLF5, -2.94% have plunged 39% from the beginning of the year, including carnage in Thursday trading that saw oil settle below $60, at $59.95, marking its lowest settlement price since July 14, 2009, while Brent LCOF5, -1.62% is down about 42% for the year (though marginally higher in Thursday trade).

Los Angeles Times: Falling gas prices may boost the U.S. economy

December 11, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

For the first time in four years, Los Angeles drivers are paying less than $3 on average for a gallon of gasoline, part of a nationwide free-fall in fuel prices that could provide a substantial boost to the economy.

Because they’re spending less at the pump, Americans are expected to shell out more on holiday gifts, parties and travel this year. Airlines are projected to pass some of their fuel savings along to consumers next year. Businesses with previously hefty fuel bills may find room now to lower prices or increase wages.

OPEC: Oil demand next year will be lowest in a decade

December 10, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

OPEC cut its forecast for global demand Wednesday, expecting that demand in 2015 will be at the lowest level since 2004.

Reuters reports that the cartel, in its monthly report, said it expects worldwide demand for its oil to be 28.92 million barrels per day, about 1 million bpd less than the 12-nation group is producing now.

Last month OPEC’s decision to keep output the same — about 30 million bpd — sent prices falling even more precipitously. Brent crude is down about 40 percent overall since June, when it was about $110 a barrel.

If the cartel produces 28.92 bpd next year, that’ll be its lowest output since it produced 28.15 million bpd in 2004.

Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s largest producer, gave no sign it’s willing to cut production levels to try to prop up the price. As Bloomberg reports:

“Why should I cut production?” [Saudi oil minister] Ali Al-Naimi said in response to reporters’ questions today in Lima, where he’s attending United Nations climate talks. “This is a market and I’m selling in a market. Why should I cut?”

BP will cut jobs, take $1 billion in charges amid oil slump

December 10, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

The plunging price of oil has taken its toll on one of the world’s largest oil companies: Britain’s BP announced Wednesday it would cuts some of its 84,000-member worldwide workforce, as well as take $1 billion in charges over the next five quarters.

The New York Times reports that most of the financial hit will come in the form of severance pay, indicating that the number of job cuts could be significant. The company didn’t say how many positions it intended to shed.

The price of Brent crude has fallen some 40 percent since June. The price per barrel dropped another 1.5 percent Wednesday, to $65.32.

Bloomberg reports that BP’s move is the latest to come amid the price squeeze:

Europe’s third-biggest oil company by market value joins larger rivals Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA in restricting budgets and offloading operations as margins are squeezed by the 40 percent drop in prices since June. BP said in October that about $1 billion to $2 billion may be cut from the $24 billion to $26 billion of planned capital expenditure in 2015.

Oil falls again, bank says floor could be as low as $43

December 8, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

The price of Brent crude dropped $1.77 a barrel on Monday, to $67.30. Earlier in the day it had hit $66.77, its lowest mark since October 2009.

BBC News has coverage here, and CNBC here.

Traders reacted to a report from Morgan Stanley citing fears of a global oversupply. According to BBC:

Morgan Stanley predicted that Brent would average $70 a barrel in 2015, down $28 from a previous forecast, and be $88 a barrel in 2016.

The investment bank also said that oil prices could fall as low as $43 a barrel next year. Analyst Adam Longson said that markets risked becoming “unbalanced” unless the OPEC producers’ cartel decided to intervene.

The Economist: Benefit of cheap gas depends on ‘sheiks vs. shale’ tussle

December 5, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

Cheap gasoline provides an overall economic benefit, The Economist writes in an article titled “Sheikhs vs. shale.”

The price drop of some $40 since June (from above $110 to about $70) has shifted “some $1.3 trillion from producers to consumers. The typical American motorist, who spent $3,000 in 2013 at the pumps, might be $800 a year better off—equivalent to a 2% pay rise.”

But will oil stay cheap? That’s the big question. How long the economic benefit of depressed prices lasts depends on:

” … a continuing tussle between OPEC and the shale-drillers [in the United States]. Several members of the cartel want it to cut its output, in the hope of pushing the price back up again. But Saudi Arabia, in particular, seems mindful of the experience of the 1970s, when a big leap in the price prompted huge investments in new fields, leading to a decade-long glut. Instead, the Saudis seem to be pushing a different tactic: let the price fall and put high-cost producers out of business. That should soon crimp supply, causing prices to rise.”

In short, gasoline is cheap now. We need to ensure it stays cheap.

Read more at FuelFreedom.org and PUMPtheMovie.com.

(Photo credit: Dan Weinbaum, posted to Flickr.com)

Low gas prices mean Americans want bigger vehicles

December 3, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

It was inevitable: The drop in gasoline prices means Americans are buying more gas-guzzling vehicles, according to an analysis by Bloomberg.

U.S. vehicle sales rose 4.3 percent in November, on track for 17.2 million sold for the year. That’s the quickest pace for a November since 2003.

Cobb: Narrative of American oil self-sufficiency ‘is about to take a big hit’

December 2, 2014/in Economy, What's The Buzz /by Fuel Freedom Staff

Kurt Cobb, who writes about energy and the environment, has a piece in The Christian Science Monitor about how OPEC is targeting the U.S. shale-oil “revolution.’

Cobb says it was folly for some proponents of U.S. drilling to think that oil would remain above $100 a barrel indefinitely. At $70, U.S. operations aren’t profitable enough to remain at that output level.

Cobb begins:

To paraphrase Mark Twain: Rumors of OPEC’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Breathless coverage of the rise in U.S. oil production in the last few years has led some to declare that OPEC’s power in the oil market is now becoming irrelevant as America supposedly moves toward energy independence. This coverage, however, has obscured the fact that almost all of that rise in production has come in the form of high-cost tight oil found in deep shale deposits.

The rather silly assumption was that oil prices would continue to hover above $100 per barrel indefinitely, making the exploitation of that tight oil profitable indefinitely. Anyone who understood the economics of this type of production and the dynamics of the oil market knew better. And now, the overhyped narrative of American oil self-sufficiency is about to take a big hit.