what really happened to oil prices?
 

price has come down too far too fast for mere supply/demand cycles to explain it.

can someone post a youtube & tell me what happened?

:helpme

OPEC is trying to stop the U.S. from becoming energy independent. Oil demand is weak due to a slowdown in the global economy (China). Normally OPEC would cut production. In their recent meeting they voted to maintain current production levels. Their motivation is to drive out U.S. domestic oil production which becomes unfeasible below $70 a barrel.

It is an commodity that is artificially price controlled to assure maximum profits for its producers. Welcome to the real world...

Supply and demand have almost NOTHING to do with the pricing.

GROW UP!

Give people cheap gas, nobody buys electric cars, car makers stop making electric cars and start making more trucks. (auto companies make more money with trucks )Then gas prices go back up and gas companies make more money with higher prices,

Saudi Arabia attempting to devalue the Alberta tar sands supply to the U.S.

Shale oil production is profitable down to about $55/barrel, and they're likely trying to discourage its continued growth .. yes.

It's because of the sanctions against Russia.

Correct, the Elite are reducing oil prices to screw Russia, this is an economic war on Russia :2 cents:

same opinion here, is a try to get Russia on its knees for being too independent

Here in 2008, they explained that the oil's price won't drop again under $80-$90 because of this:

Peak oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I tend to agree.

Yep, this is the best reply OP got and its exactly the reason. Whilst its bad for shale oil and it wont help US reach their 2% inflation target, the bottom line is that its great for main street and for a lot of economies which import oil.

Some say conspiracies cite sanctions against Russia and of course, its hurting Russia quite badly and knowing the anti-Russia club is working hard, it would not surprise me. With Russian jets flying all over, Nasdaq being hacked with bugs, Major US sites being hacked, Sanctions etc etc and the new cold war in full swing.... who knows?

A lot of analysts reckon oil is back over $80 next year.

umm Caucasia

Well.. the price is controlled by reducing supply. Or sometimes little bit the opposite (like now), but the whole point of OPEC has been historically to lessen supply.

And regarding Russia: it is not because of Russia, and it is not because of sanctions to Russia (those will lessen supply if something -> price up, not down)

If oil prices stay at this level for 6 months the U.S. economy will be in recession. The energy sector has been the primary driver of the economy this decade. A sustained decline in oil prices will lead to massive layoffs that will roil the economy and GDP will contract.

This.

8char

All of the above and I have heard the Fed ended QE and is selling off their bonds, Driving asset prices down.

The demand will never be the same that it once was because people have
become accustomed to driving smaller cars. Does anyone really want to
drive a midsize 1970s type sedan, which were LARGER than so-called
full-size cars today? Sure, a small percentage of people will purchase
SUVs now because of the current low gas prices, but all these small cars
on our streets are undermining the global demand for oil. :2 cents:

http://3mp1r3.cam500.com/img/boards/oilhist.png

Pigs always lose 2015 is an estimate.

Coming next the crisis in gold prices ...

Note the correlation of the severe 1981 recession and the Great Recession of 2008.

We have been played ... Fuck OPEC
Shale oil can be produced profitably in half of the discoveries at $45 a barrel world prices. Greater production efficiencies will lower production costs. I read gasoline is $0.01/litre in Venezuela and their economy is collapsing -- you cannot eat oil! Fuck 'em -- too bad ... There will be chaos in the Gulf States ... Fuck em -- too bad!

Note the run up of oil prices since 2000 and do the math ...

Funny part about SA not cutting production in an attempt to bankrupt primarily the bakken basin is that shale oil is not going anywhere. it's still there, while some frackers may go bankrupt or curb production due to low prices, the o&g is still there to get.


we're becoming energy independent and there ain't jackshit opec can do about that.

PS, fracking is about to get A LOT cheaper too:

Energy Recovery Announces Launch of VorTeq for Hydraulic Fracturing Industry | Energy Recovery Inc

I must admit it's odd that prices have come down so fast.

Recently the United States has become the largest producer of oil in the world, passing Russia and Saudi Arabia. On top of this, we are producing shale oil at $45/barrel when the going market is twice that.

What's a going market?

Economic war on Russia, nothing more.

Capitalism 101 ...

Oil independence at any cost ftw. Buh bye Arab shitheads, we'll leave you to killing each other on your own without our help.

Lake Afghanistan gets my vote.

was hoping someone woulda mentioned the speculators by now. as they are the primary cause of volatility in excess of normal supply/demand.

What i really, really wonder...is whether derivatives used to finance long positions in oil are now severely underwater & is there a new crash brewing behind the closed doors of wall street?

the latest spending bill will remove a protection from the frank-dodd law whereby taxpayers would go back to being on the hook should bank derivatives fail. Frank dodd had forbidden taxpayer money used to bailout derivative losses, until now.

:upsidedow

https://www.fdic.gov/news/news/finan.../fil14047.html

There was a proposed variation margin change -- what effect that the Dodd-Frank law changes would have?

FDIC insured banks should be prohibited from any derivatives trading by law.

Interesting article from India on solar energy generation.
Solar power can be for India what shale is for the US - Economic Times

There is a technological disruption happening now in the energy markets and maybe it will turn out the same as the Internet's disruption of communication media and general commerce.

Adapt or die ...

- Economic crisis
- They keep the production steady for geopolitical reasons (at least)

it decreases the price...

For France, it will be for sure methane made from crap

Green Guys for the WIN#

http://static.cdn-seekingalpha.com/u...-pi_thumb1.png

hotlinked

^^LOL@methane

You are correct on production. What it will immediately curtail is exploration. The small drillers will cut back drastically and take thousands of jobs with them.

Great answer.


High gas prices is not the only reason why people buy electric cars. I bought mine for many other reasons. I'd buy another electric in a heartbeat - I'll never buy a gas car again.

Very possible, and I hope they do. Hopefully this will reduce interest in the Keystone pipeline too.


Also interesting. The price drop in oil seems to have a lot of benefits.


Why would this happen? I don't understand that. Wouldn't less money spent on energy mean more money for consumers to spend on other things? I heard last week that cheaper energy is already saving the average consumer about $600 a year.


I'll guess that this won't affect France much. Most of France's electricity comes from their own Nuclear power plants. They had a chance to buy energy from Russia a long time ago but chose a smarter route I think.