Current Oil Price

frank_begbie · Post by **frank_begbie** » 05 Jan 2015, 11:36

In other words nobody bleedin knows!

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 05 Jan 2015, 12:19

Brent below $55.

Euro at 9 year low against dollar, which is riding high, so we won't see the stimulus the US consumer sees, especially as the US has low fuel taxes.

Is this Obama in collusion with SA to give the US a feelgood boom before the next presidential election?

It's a variation I haven't heard elsewhere.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 05 Jan 2015, 14:48

There goes $54.

edit

The King of Saudi Arabia is seriously ill.

ISIS launch a suicide attack on SA border, kill two.

Oil tanker bombed at Libyan port, 2 sailors dead.
Main oil terminal in Tripoli still on fire, 800.000 barrels now burnt.

Russia (world's biggest producer of crude oil) talks of cutting production to support prices.

Several members of OPEC are calling for quota cuts.

Price still in free-fall.

AutomaticEarth · Post by **AutomaticEarth** » 05 Jan 2015, 16:53

Brent below $53.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 05 Jan 2015, 16:57

Diesel down to 115.9p in Newbury! Petrol at 110.9p.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 05 Jan 2015, 17:30

http://www.vox.com/2014/12/16/7401705/o ... es-falling

Nice article on why oil prices are in freefall.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 05 Jan 2015, 18:21

Saudi could be trying to shift the production cutting role onto the world's largest producer, Russia. Historically, Russia has benefited from Saudis production cuts but now it would be in Russia's interests to see prices rise. It just depends on who breaks first, who has the greater imperative to see production cut and prices rise. I'd say that would be Russia.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 05 Jan 2015, 19:22

kenneal - lagger wrote:Saudi could be trying to shift the production cutting role onto the world's largest producer, Russia. Historically, Russia has benefited from Saudis production cuts but now it would be in Russia's interests to see prices rise. It just depends on who breaks first, who has the greater imperative to see production cut and prices rise. I'd say that would be Russia.

I agree with that, but I also agree with the main thrust of the article, which is that Saudi are quite happy to tolerate low prices if it cripples the new US hard-to-get oil industry. I think the Saudis want to scare the US producers - they want to make them doubt that they can rely on high oil prices so they see investing in hard-to-get oil as too risky. And clearly they can play this game longer than the Russians can.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 06 Jan 2015, 10:09

$51.50 Brent.

$50 by end of week?

raspberry-blower · Post by **raspberry-blower** » 06 Jan 2015, 19:30

PS_RalphW wrote:$51.50 Brent.

$50 by end of week?

Ticker at the bottom is showing $50.04 tonight
WTI $48

Meanwhile another timely article at Automatic Earth: This Oil Thing is the Real Deal

AutomaticEarth · Post by **AutomaticEarth** » 06 Jan 2015, 22:23

Brent at 51.04 down -2.07
WTI at 48.13 down -1.72

at 22.21PM 6/1/2014

What a drop. Could be below $50 Brent well before next week.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 07 Jan 2015, 09:49

Brent dips below $50 before rebounding. Well before the end of the week.

Will there be any market support at $50?

Rebound to all of $51 and markets up and Euro down on report of Euro central bank prepared to do whatever necessary to pull Eurozone out of deflation. With ZIRP already in place that can only mean QE of the Euro, which Germany has steadfastly blocked until now. The deflation is entirely caused by the falling cost of oil and to a lesser extent gas. It will disappear in a couple of months as oil must bottom out soon.

Wild swings are very bad for steady economies. The faster US shale oil production crashes, the better for stability all round.

Hope I get a new job before the next crash.

PowerSwitchJames · Post by **PowerSwitchJames** » 07 Jan 2015, 14:13

I remember being dumbstruck when prices went ABOVE $50 - it was a really significant moment, at the time.

Still, all these people saying that this sharp drop in oil prices is a sign that 'peak oil is dead'...will they apply that logic when oil prices rebound above $100 and say 'peak oil is alive'?

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 07 Jan 2015, 14:41

Great to hear from you again, James.

The pundits you see on TV and in print seem to have no idea of the consequences of cheap oil for future oil production and price. It's a guaranteed recession in a couple of years time when the US shale oil wells have all been refracked again and new wells need to be drilled. They're cutting down on working rigs already!!

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 07 Jan 2015, 14:59

And lots of short-term glee over here (welcome, Celtic cub!) over fuel prices. Diesel is the equivalent of about 95p a litre today (with farmers and other criminals getting it around 60p a litre), even before recent oil price drops are factored in.

About 999,999 out of every 1,000,000 people are happy about it. They're blind to the bigger picture. The only good thing about the price drop is the frackers are dropping like flies.