Oil Prices May Hit 25/bbl. Zeo Hdge. (homes, layoffs)

[walt151]

Oil prices may hit 25/bbl. Zeo hdge,.

[kevcrawford]

Nah. They'll be back up near $100 within 18 months. The arabs are smart, but they're not THAT smart. They can hurt the little guys with the lower prices for a bit, but they can't affect the BP's of the world. The bottom line is they're greedy. They're going to get to a point where they realize we're still buying the same amount of oil from them and they're going to let their greed get the better of them. If we're still buying, why not charge us more for it? Enjoy filling up your tanks for a while. It won't last.

[Azure110]

I was told by someone who works in the oil and gas industry in the middle east that unofficial prediction is that it will be 1-2 years before prices return to "normal" levels.

People here in the states that work in oil and gas industry are just as greedy if not worse but fracking has provided a lot of jobs for people that could be unemployed or in lower paying jobs.

[Pancho-Villa]

Pretty sure that not very many think this is long term.

[FormerRocket04]

I really don't think you're going to get prices per barrel back up to where they were when oil companies were making obscene amounts of money. I think now that Telsa is doing its part to get the electric car market running, demand for gas is going to drop. It won't be overnight, but it will start to happen gradually. As the technology gets cheaper and the cars get cheaper, people will make the investment in electric so they can save money by not buying gas. It is far easier to make electrical energy than make gasoline using 100 year old technology, especially when oil companies don't want to spend capital to build new refineries to be more efficient.

[clay1]

Originally Posted by kevcrawford

It's going to be a domino effect. Not so much the layoffs, but the folks that still DO remain employed are going to stop spending. Most folks don't really see it, but we've had a tremendous amount of money pumped into this economy by these companies and their employees. We need oil to sit around $80/bbl for it to really keep our economy going. We want these guys making money. We want them to continue fracking because it really aids our economy. Plus it weans us off of foreign oil. If we get completely off of foreign energy, we can see oil prices drop, gas will be cheaper, but our US companies will still be doing well.

Some posters on this forum have stated that fracking and the oil business only benefit billionaires with no effect on the local economy.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by clay1

Some posters on this forum have stated that fracking and the oil business only benefit billionaires with no effect on the local economy.

I am pretty sure none of those billionaires would want fracking activity very close to their homes either. I mean who wants flammable tap water? I don't.

[clay1]

Originally Posted by Azure110

I am pretty sure none of those billionaires would want fracking activity very close to their homes either. I mean who wants flammable tap water? I don't.

Who said anything about that? I certainly didn't in my post. Nor did the post I replied to.

Non-sequitor.

[WilGar]

Originally Posted by Pancho-Villa

Pretty sure that not very many think this is long term.

$80 or above by year's end.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by Azure110

I am pretty sure none of those billionaires would want fracking activity very close to their homes either. I mean who wants flammable tap water? I don't.

First, that "flammable tap water" thing was a proven hoax. That idiot was pumping out propane trying to get attention. If you know anything about the process of returning the water you'd know that it's darn near impossible to contaminate the drinking water. The EPA is waste deep in it making the guidelines past ridiculous. But "flaming water" makes for better news.

Fracking has been going on for years. The technology is sound. There will always be loons that want to fight anything energy related.

Secondly, you talk about the obscene money the oil companies are making, but the government actually makes more per gallon of gas than the oil companies do. You want to bring gas prices down for good? Get the government's hands out of it. Or at least minimize what they're making off of it.

The oil companies are the easy villains, but only because there's so much ignorance. People listen to the few loons and take it as gospel instead of researching it for themselves.