Speaking of oil prices, I’ve noticed that gas prices are down in my area this morning. The average has been holding steady at $5.39, but I was getting my gas at Costco for $5.05. This morning, however, I paid $4.79 at Costco. I don’t know if it’s a trend, but I’ll take it.
“I’ve noticed that gas prices are down in my area this morning.”
Over about the last month, Crude Oil prices have dropped 20% from their peak after the Russian invasion of the Ukraine - officially cracking into Bear Market territory.
They dropped on projections of economic slowdown/recession (and high prices) reducing demand, but are bouncing back a bit of that drop today, on continued tightness in supply.
It is a big job to increase production elsewhere enough to replace Russian supplies. The supply side is probably going to be tight during that transition (a couple of years or more) - unless there is a recession, which there seems likely to be.
We are now running near full capacity for our (US) refineries to produce gasoline (peak driving season), so any disruptions in refining could send gas prices back up at the pump. But overall oil prices seem to stabilized from the initial shock of the invasion of the Ukraine. Standing by for the next shock...
It’s a trend. The economy has tanked. Demand has decreased. However, we won’t see oil future drop into the 40’s for a long time.