Turns Out The Price Of Gas May Hold Steady (For Now)

The only thing more confusing than oil markets may be your tax forms.  Early today, OilPrice.com reported the fallout from the attack on the Saudi oil industry would last for months.  Then the price of oil dropped on world markets!  OilPrice.com followed with an update you can read by clicking here.

A financial planner once told me the only constant in life is change.  True, oil prices lately change with the weather.  Late last week there were stories about a pending collapse in oil prices next year.  Then the attack on Saudi Arabia.  Now, it appears the Saudis had redundant systems in place (which, would seem to make sense when it’s the kingdom’s leading industry).

A wider war in the Middle East would send prices soaring and, yet.  There is one factor that best explains why the old conventional wisdom no longer applies.  The United States and Russia pump vast quantities of oil.  The Russians can still break even at $25 a barrel.

A little more than a decade ago, nobody foresaw the fracking revolution and what it meant for America’s energy future.  Within a few short years, it also created 70,000 jobs just in Pennsylvania.  The low fuel costs cushioned the Great Recession and a lot of people were able to avoid prolonged layoffs.  And we’ve barely touched reserves this country has offshore.

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren both want to ban fracking.  Imagine what you would be paying for gas at the next fill-up if they had stopped the shale impact from ever happening?