Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, affecting oil, natural gas, and gasoline prices all over the country.
Oil Prices
Oil And Gas Update – Hurricane Harvey Drives Oil, Nat Gas Prices Up And Down
By GEORGE BIBIKOS | COZEN O'CONNORSign up and get Breaking Energy news in your inbox.
We will never sell or share your information without your consent. See our privacy policy.There are parties who feel oil is near it’s high point and within a few decades the sun will set on oil as an energy source. Some people who believe most strongly in alternative energy sources and electric vehicles argue that the future lies outside of oil.
With the nine-month extension of the OPEC led production cuts the consensus among traders is that oil will likely stay between $50-$60 a barrel this year. But beyond that there a number of different viewpoints as to where prices will go. Some parties feel the medium term future for oil has already been written by the lack of investments made upstream and within a few years the price of oil may nearly double.
With the day of the OPEC meeting approaching there appears to be a growing consensus among industry insiders that OPEC will be able to regain some degree of control over oil prices. Many experts now believe that the planned production cuts will be sufficient to consume the surplus and in 2018 the oil market will reach an equilibrium at somewhat higher commodity prices. This analysis often has an optimistic sounding ending. Oil prices ending up at levels everyone can live with and US shale picks up the growth in demand from the market.
Modern economies function in a similar manner to ecosystems. Independently enterprises relying upon each other to provide goods which they add value to – either through further processing, transporting to new markets, or selling to consumers. This system works because no single entity dominates the system and any single piece which fails has its places taken by another that can operate more efficiently. However, the system breaks down when an economy becomes reliant upon a single industry and that industry fails. This is what is happening in Venezuela and the effect may well become worse as problems cascade down creating major system failures.
Recent years have seen a resurgence in American oil production and with the United States edging closer and closer each year toward becoming the second largest producer of crude oil in the world.
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Nigerian Military Force Attack Illegal Oil Pirates
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