Why is Gas so cheap right now?

[rishaed]

Discuss...
Its under $2. This hasn't happened since at least 3-5 yrs ago in the US.
Discuss reasons, and unstated reasons for why the price has suddenly dropped so much.

[DaGip]

OPEC doesn't like Russia. Russian economy needs oil to be at $100 a barrel. You are looking at economic warfare.

[saxitoxin]

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which has the third largest oil reserves in the world, is no longer under sanctions and is flooding the market with years of stockpiled petroleum, driving down global prices. This is a Win for anyone who has a car. Back in July, when the first IRI oil tankers started scattering to the four corners of the globe, I said "Get ready, America - $1.90 gasoline is coming!" And, like I said, it came!

Unfortunately, some leaders of the United States are calling for sanctions to be re-imposed on Iran, which is just the PC way of saying "We want the stupid little people to pay $3.25/gallon for gasoline."

Integrating nations into the international system leads to prosperity and happiness for everyone. (Well, almost everyone!)

[Bernie Sanders]

Just cause Republicans say that want sanctions restored against Iran, well it ain't going to happen.

Letting Iran export oil again to the world market is a boon to oil consumers. Plus, Saudi Arabia is flooding the market.

[saxitoxin]

Just cause Republicans say that want sanctions restored against Iran, well it ain't going to happen.

It could. A vote for any Republican or the likely Democrat is a vote for $4 gasoline. They might as well print the ballots like this:

HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO PAY FOR GASOLINE?
[ ] $4.00
[ ] $1.92

[WingCmdr Ginkapo]

Yes the price of Petrol is $4.12 in the UK right now! BOOOM so cheap.

Quit your moaning, the republicans can just raise the tariff rather than impose sanctions on Iran. Dont ruin it for the rest of us.

[mrswdk]

$4.12 per what? Use the proper measures, not Amerifail imperial ones.

What's the UK price in £ per liter?

[WingCmdr Ginkapo]

$4.12 per what? Use the proper measures, not Amerifail imperial ones.

What's the UK price in £ per liter?

103p at the moment. I thought it safer to convert.

[rishaed]

Yes the price of Petrol is $4.12 in the UK right now! BOOOM so cheap.

Quit your moaning, the republicans can just raise the tariff rather than impose sanctions on Iran. Dont ruin it for the rest of us.

I'm not moaning. But rather asking the reasons why. Thats two different things.

[mrswdk]

$4.12 per what? Use the proper measures, not Amerifail imperial ones.

What's the UK price in £ per liter?

103p at the moment. I thought it safer to convert.

Ha, that's way cheap. I remember when it was around 130.

[Serbia]

I think it's because Obama is trying to screw honest, hardworking Middle Eastern gas station owners. #ThanksObama
Also, Bernie is a communist who believes gas should be banned, then given away for free to poor people.

Bollocks in 2015.

[Bernie Sanders]

I think it's because Obama is trying to screw honest, hardworking Middle Eastern gas station owners. #ThanksObama
Also, Bernie is a communist who believes gas should be banned, then given away for free to poor people.

Bollocks in 2015.

Oh....the dull crayon...scribbles on another thread. Try finger painting next time.

[saxitoxin]

Great news, everyone! Vacation's over - Americans will soon be paying $4/gallon for gas again!

The Treasury Department is preparing sanctions against a number of Iranian and other international companies and individuals for their alleged role in developing Iran's ballistic missile program, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Officials said the move was in response to Iran's test launching of two ballistic missiles in October and November.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/30/politics/ ... -missiles/

[F1fth]

I'll have to disagree with saxitoxin... Iran probably wants oil prices to rise. Like many of its competitors in the region, oil is a HUGE part of their economy. But then Iran has been dealing with years of crippling sanctions from nearly the entire Western world. They want to make some good oil money and get their economy going again -- they would never have given up their uranium if the sanctions weren't hurting them at least somewhat.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has had more stability in their economy than Iran and are more capable of dealing with the low prices because they produce their oil more cheaply than competitors. And Iran isn't the only competitor -- American and Canadian fracking companies need oil prices to be much higher for shale oil production to be profitable. So it seems to me it current oil prices have less to do with Iranian sanctions and more with the Saudi's market strategy.

As DaGip mentioned, SA is our close ally and the low prices hurt Russia too. But I don't think this is as big a factor to the Saudi's because it doesn't directly benefit them. Governments tend to be quite self-interested, to say the least.

But I wonder if anyone here will believe me because I'm not blaming it on American politicians.

[ManBungalow]

i think it's because phatscotty is making lots of hot air, meaning that vgas is more accessbile and the market price flalsls

[tzor]

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which has the third largest oil reserves in the world, is no longer under sanctions and is flooding the market with years of stockpiled petroleum, driving down global prices. This is a Win for anyone who has a car. Back in July, when the first IRI oil tankers started scattering to the four corners of the globe, I said "Get ready, America - $1.90 gasoline is coming!" And, like I said, it came!

Yes, this is one strange three dimensional cold war at the moment. Saudi Arabia is starting to implement austerity budgets. The result could be an Iranian victory in Yemen. Worse case scenario is that all oil hell breaks loose. Gas prices may plummet even more as everyone pumps more and more to keep revenues up. Lord help us if the US gets a "drill baby drill" administration in 2017, if the world market doesn't crash in 2016.

[Bernie Sanders]

We have a drill baby drill President now. We will be oil sufficient in about a decade. The problem now is, that Republicans won the battle now to export our oil to other countries, WTF!

Natural gas is so plentiful now in the US, we have to burn all the excess, since we ran out of storage for it. BUT, don't worry, if the billionaires get their way, we'll be building Liquefied natural gas plants so we can export that on the world market. This will make American consumers pay the world market price for natural gas. What insanity, heh? Billionaires get richer and the Americans get it up their @sses.

[tzor]

We have a drill baby drill President now. We will be oil sufficient in about a decade. The problem now is, that Republicans won the battle now to export our oil to other countries, WTF!

The only drilling that has been going on is in private lands where the president has no general authority. Offshore drilling has beens stalemated for the entire administration as well as drilling in public lands. On the state level, if you want to see the shit hit the fan, watch what would happen if the fracking restrictions were removed from New York which has a major source under the western (does anyone really live there) lands. A full "frac" nation would give T. Boone Pickens a fatal dose of diarrhea because the price would be that low. Natural gas cars would replace petroleum based vehicles. Global warming would be pushed back decades or more.

More importantly, if Oil is king, gas is queen and this means, especially in Europe, you have to kiss the queen's ass. In this case the natural gas supplier to Europe is Russia. Drill baby drill would raise a lot of fiscal complications to Russian expansion, especially into the Arctic. An LNG pricewar in Europe? Almost as bad as the oil war between Iran and the house of Saud.

[Bernie Sanders]

We have a drill baby drill President now. We will be oil sufficient in about a decade. The problem now is, that Republicans won the battle now to export our oil to other countries, WTF!

The only drilling that has been going on is in private lands where the president has no general authority. Offshore drilling has beens stalemated for the entire administration as well as drilling in public lands. On the state level, if you want to see the shit hit the fan, watch what would happen if the fracking restrictions were removed from New York which has a major source under the western (does anyone really live there) lands. A full "frac" nation would give T. Boone Pickens a fatal dose of diarrhea because the price would be that low. Natural gas cars would replace petroleum based vehicles. Global warming would be pushed back decades or more.

More importantly, if Oil is king, gas is queen and this means, especially in Europe, you have to kiss the queen's ass. In this case the natural gas supplier to Europe is Russia. Drill baby drill would raise a lot of fiscal complications to Russian expansion, especially into the Arctic. An LNG pricewar in Europe? Almost as bad as the oil war between Iran and the house of Saud.

Yo, my dimwitted friend. Fracking is up to the States, duh. Illinois just passed regulations in 2015 to allow fracking. Many people in New York oppose fracking, due to the poisoning of drinking water that has happened in hundreds of communities.

[tzor]

Yo, my dimwitted friend. Fracking is up to the States, duh. Illinois just passed regulations in 2015 to allow fracking. Many people in New York oppose fracking, due to the poisoning of drinking water that has happened in hundreds of communities.

False allegations which have all been proven false. But please don't let something like FACTS get in the way of a nice emotional argument. It would be very un-liberal to argue from the facts.

[Ltrain]

I think it's because Obama is trying to screw honest, hardworking Middle Eastern gas station owners. #ThanksObama
Also, Bernie is a communist who believes gas should be banned, then given away for free to poor people.

Bollocks in 2015.

That's basically what i was gonna say



My Republican parents pointed out the gas price drop right before the 2012 elections.

[Bernie Sanders]

Yo, my dimwitted friend. Fracking is up to the States, duh. Illinois just passed regulations in 2015 to allow fracking. Many people in New York oppose fracking, due to the poisoning of drinking water that has happened in hundreds of communities.

False allegations which have all been proven false. But please don't let something like FACTS get in the way of a nice emotional argument. It would be very un-liberal to argue from the facts.

Hardly false. Fracking has caused poisoning of drinking supplies in the US. It has also caused many small earthquakes where there's lots of fracking going on.

I'm not going to do your homework for you Tzor, you lazy armchair zealot.

[tzor]

I'm not going to do your homework for you Tzor, you lazy armchair zealot.

Then I'll do it for you instead, and I will even use liberal trash media to do so. EPA Finds Some Cases Of Water Contamination Related To Fracking, But Says It's Not Widespread: Huffington Post

The agency found "specific instances" where the integrity of fracked wells or the handling of wastewater ended up affecting drinking water. But Thomas Burke, the deputy assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development, said in a call with reporters Thursday that the number of instances was "relatively low when compared to the number of fracked wells."

Trust me Bernie; I live in farmland. The potential damage to the water table from modern farming is massive compared to any potential threats from fracking in that same area. Throw in plumes from the ethanol enabled gas stations and sometimes its hard for the town in my area to find a location to drill for fresh water without contamination.

"After more than five years and millions of dollars, the evidence gathered by EPA confirms what the agency has already acknowledged and what the oil and gas industry has known,” said Erik Milito, group director of upstream and industry operations at API. "Hydraulic fracturing is being done safely under the strong environmental stewardship of state regulators and industry best practices."

EPA Finds No Widespread Drinking Water Pollution From Fracking: NPR The Two-Way

The EPA's draft assessment was conducted at the request of Congress. "It is the most complete compilation of scientific data to date," says Burke, "including over 950 sources of information, published papers, numerous technical reports, information from stakeholders and peer-reviewed EPA scientific reports."

The EPA study does identify some potential vulnerabilities to drinking water. They include the amount of water required for fracking in dry places and fracking in underground formations containing drinking water. The report also raises concerns about wells that are inadequately cased or cemented — something that can allow gases and liquids to migrate below ground. Another area of vulnerability the EPA highlights in its report is how wastewater and fracking fluids from drilling operations are handled and treated.

The American Petroleum Institute says the conclusions echo what the oil industry has argued all along. "Hydraulic fracturing is being done safely under the strong environmental stewardship of state regulators and industry best practices," says Erik Milito, API upstream group director.

Acknowledging the potential vulnerabilities outlined in the EPA report, Milito says, "Continuous safety improvements have been an ongoing part of hydraulic fracturing for 65 years."