Everyone wants vehicles made in America, so why not fuels too?
Seriously, if we made all our fuel in America we could create not just thousands, but potentially millions of jobs. What gives? Read more →
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What booms, must ultimately bust: How the boom/bust oil cycle works
Today we’re going to take a look at the boom/bust cycle infamous within the oil industry, and how it helps — and then hurts — state economies. Read more →
Oil has jumped $9 in the past four trading sessions
It might not yet be the “snap-back” we’ve been talking about for some time — that inevitable climb back upward after a seven-month downward spiral — but the price of oil has shot up 19 percent across the last four trading sessions.
So maybe start preparing to say goodbye to those savings you’ve been pocketing at the pump every week or two.
Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark, rose $3.16 (about 6 percent) to $57.91, and U.S. crude CLc1, West Texas Intermediate, rose $3.48 (7 percent) to $53.05.
The four-day surge is the biggest such gain since January 2009.
As Reuters reports:
The rally began on Friday, when oil services firm Baker Hughes said the number of U.S. oil drilling rigs had its biggest weekly decline in nearly 30 years.
Of course, that could mean further job losses in the U.S. oil-production sector. Baker Hughes last month announced plans to layoff 7,000 employees, or 11 percent of its workforce, because a global oversupply of oil pushed down prices and made expensive-to-extract American oil less profitable.
Fuel Freedom has argued that American workers, as well as consumers, need cheap fuel prices for the long-term, instead of the job-killing rollercoaster of volatility that’s inherent in the oil market. The solution is to displace some of the oil we consume with cleaner-burning, cheaper fuels like ethanol and methanol.
John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil and a star of the documentary PUMP, has said that the oil price plunge is an “anomaly,” and has warned of a price “snap-back” based on the reduction in U.S. drilling. Last month he told CNBC: “The more consumers enjoy the price production, the sooner we’ll be headed back to higher crude-oil prices. That’s the reality.”
As Reuters explained, oil didn’t just spike in a vacuum. Tuesday’s jump came after the dollar fell about 1 percent against other currencies, the dollar’s biggest one-day drop since October 2013. This had the effect of elevating the value of oil and other commodities.
Despite the four-day rally, some traders doubt that the selloff in oil was over, citing last week’s build in U.S. crude stockpiles as evidence. A U.S. refineries strike also stretched into its third day on Tuesday, weakening the picture for crude.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “few investors and analysts are willing to call a bottom to a downdraft that began in July, the magnitude of which caught many market experts by surprise.”
Detroit News: This time, cheaper gas may fuel trouble
A story in The Detroit News poses a troubling potential downside to the global drop in oil prices: “… most of the new production [in the U.S., with help from the fracking revolution] only makes economic sense at high prices. That is, it’s expensive to get the oil out of the ground, so if prices fall too much, it will cost more to get it than it’s worth.” That reality could put jobs in peril.
Hannity on PUMP: A story ‘America needs to know’
Sean Hannity is a big fan of the message contained within the documentary film PUMP, because it’s one he’s been promoting himself for years.
The conservative radio and Fox News host welcomed Fuel Freedom chairman and co-founder Yossie Hollander and board adviser John Hofmeister on “The Sean Hannity Show” on radio Thursday.
Hannity primed the pump for PUMP’s theatrical release Friday with this introduction:
“How many times have I said on this program that oil, energy, is the answer to all of our problems? I’ve said it so often. Well, now there is an eye-opening documentary that I want you to go see. … I have no [rooting] interest in this movie, except that it tells the story that I have been trying to tell you now for such a long period of time about America and how we can become energy independent, about how there’s a lot going on in the oil industry, where we all pay more. How we are all dependent on oil from countries, many of whom just kind of hate our guts. And it’s been put together in a fabulous documentary that is now gonna be released in movie theaters around the country [Friday].
What They’re Saying About Clean, Job-Creating American Natural Gas
The safe development of job-creating American natural gas continues to deliver broad-based economic, environmental and national security benefits. From more jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector and for labor building trades, to expanded natural gas production and increased, locally-source power generation for consumers and small businesses, shale continues to benefit us all.
