What are you paying for gas right now?

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by *Anya*

Yes, I understand that. Rather than being direct, I was indirectly but clumsily responding to Dee's post about decreasing gas prices causing oil rig workers to lose their jobs.

Production continues here in California, despite the drop in prices. However, what happens in the south may indeed be different than what happens in the west.

When I started to research why gas prices go up and down in California and how it ultimately affects us, the consumer; I realized it is a far bigger issue than on the surface of what we pay for gas.

I do apologize for deviating from the intent of the thread, which is "What are you paying for gas right now"!

It is a great thread!

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

No, please post anything that might help us understand! I have been surprised (and pleased) by falling prices...but WHY are they falling, and when are they going to hike them again?

As you know, here in California prices are down over $2 per gallon....the oil companies are not known for their low prices and lack of billions in profits; it worries me that we are going to see huge jumps just when we have gotten used to having some spare change in our pockets.

Anya, Ms.Tinkerbelly is right, I am interested as well why prices are so low. It seems like an appropriate direction for the thread.

I hope that dee comes back and explains. Honestly, my understanding is that the oil production has not changed and the talk of less work is Republican propaganda. I thought maybe this is where you were going...that is why I was so interested in understanding the article.

Kelt? (I was thinking I could go google it, but why do that when Kelt already knows the answer?)

[TruTexan]

I have several cousins that work in the oilfield industry and they aren't being laid off, they are actually working overtime drilling more locations and re-opening the closed pumping sites that were shut down during the 1980's to preserve our oil in the ground for future needs. There is also a boom in a northern state of one of the Dakota's that is drilling like mad there and hiring new oilfield workers. My neighbor's son in law took a job up north in the Dakota's drilling for oil. He makes more money there than he did here in the south working on a drilling rig.

Also, here is an article that helps us to understand why gas prices are falling :


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/1...n_6062056.html

ETA: gas here East of Dallas an hour is 2.13/gal and dropping everyday.

[girl_dee]

Hey y'all... I really don't want to ruin the spirit of everyone's fun while WE (of course I am enjoying our $2.16 gallon) enjoy a break in our expenses wherever we can get them.

It has always been like this down here, low gas prices = oil field workers out of work. From what I understand, simply put, when the demand goes down, prices drop and the oil stays in the earth. They just don't need people on the rigs out in the gulf, which is where our people go. I do believe they shut certain rigs down until the demand goes up.

Right now someone in my family is sitting at home until further notice, because of the low demand in the oil field right now. He will be put back to work but for now he is laid off.

I may be wrong, but that is how I always understood how it works.

[Kelt]

This article in the Economist "Cheaper Oil: Winners And Losers" is a pretty good look at the global nature of this round of shifting oil prices and addresses some of the region specific outcomes of the current situation. Bear in mind it is about seven weeks old, but the underpinnings are still accurate. And there are charts!

Here is a short excerpt on the effects in America and some of the extraction methods:

"The impact on America will be mixed because the country is simultaneously the world’s largest consumer, importer and producer of oil. On balance cheaper oil will help, but not as much as it used to. Analysts at Goldman Sachs reckon that cheaper oil and lower interest rates should add about 0.1 percentage points to growth in 2015. But that will be more than offset by a stronger dollar, slower global growth and weaker stockmarkets.

Extracting oil from shale is expensive. So when the oil price drops, America is one of the places most likely to pull back (Arctic and Canadian tar-sands producers are even more vulnerable). According to Michael Cohen of Barclays, a bank, a $20 drop in the world oil price reduces American producers’ earnings before interest by 20%, and only four-fifths of shale reserves are economic to extract using current technology with Brent around $85. How quickly production will fall as a result, though, is unclear, since producers’ costs vary and some have locked in prices via hedging. The impact will also vary by region. “If I’m in California, it’s pretty clear-cut that this is a good-news story,” says Michael Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank. “If I were in North Dakota [the biggest shale-oil state], I would be a lot more nervous.”

America is a net importer, so lower prices mean Americans get to keep more of their money and spend it at home. But the stimulative impact is less than it used to be, since imports are becoming less important, and oil is shrinking as a share of the economy."


There's also the fact that the Russian economy is basically folding in on itself due their (Putin's) reliance on the earlier high price profits to escape the effects of sanctions. Here's an article from Al Jazeera: Russian rouble in 'catastrophic decline'

Oh yeah, right now I've got $2.29 gal.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by girl_dee

Hey y'all... I really don't want to ruin the spirit of everyone's fun while WE (of course I am enjoying our $2.16 gallon) enjoy a break in our expenses wherever we can get them.

It has always been like this down here, low gas prices = oil field workers out of work. From what I understand, simply put, when the demand goes down, prices drop and the oil stays in the earth. They just don't need people on the rigs out in the gulf, which is where our people go. I do believe they shut certain rigs down until the demand goes up.

Right now someone in my family is sitting at home until further notice, because of the low demand in the oil field right now. He will be put back to work but for now he is laid off.

I may be wrong, but that is how I always understood how it works.

According to this dee, they are actually drilling MORE which is why the prices are down. I'm sorry someone in your family isn't working.

http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/...st-since-1972/



EDIT:

<Kelt's boring post> Hey, man, thanks! Good stuff, good stuff...<cough>

[Okiebug61]

$1.89 here in OKC

[Kelt]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

<Kelt's boring post> Hey, man, thanks! Good stuff, good stuff...<cough>

How silly of me! Of course I should have focused on the shallow US centric 5 month old news.

I mean, thanks Dapper, that was very readable.

(All in good sport )

[Teddybear]

today here in dallas i paid 1.99 for it. i drove by the station this morning and it was 2.12.

i heard an interview with boone pickens that the "problem" with falling gas prices is that there is MORE oil then demand and that we need to STOP producing it so that prices will raise.

im glad i was sitting down cause i would have fell down. I think we should be more oil/gas independent, but i think we should be more independent and STOP trying to tell the world that our way is better then anyone else. Just my .02 worth

stepping off my soap box now

[Kelt]

Originally Posted by Teddybear

today here in dallas i paid 1.99 for it. i drove by the station this morning and it was 2.12.

i heard an interview with boone pickens that the "problem" with falling gas prices is that there is MORE oil then demand and that we need to STOP producing it so that prices will raise.

im glad i was sitting down cause i would have fell down. I think we should be more oil/gas independent, but i think we should be more independent and STOP trying to tell the world that our way is better then anyone else. Just my .02 worth

stepping off my soap box now

I agree with the desire for oil independence. I think one unintended side effect though is that this will hurt the demand for more renewables. Hard to figure out a balancing point.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Kelt

How silly of me! Of course I should have focused on the shallow US centric 5 month old news.

I mean, thanks Dapper, that was very readable.

(All in good sport )

Ok, ok, you're right, it was a pathetic attempt at information. I didn't see your post and I was curious to see if what I understood was correct, so I did a quick and dirty google search. I didn't notice the date of the article and it was quick and easy to read, so that is why I posted it.

I will take a more thoroughly educated approach to the thread.

It is interesting to see two Texans on the thread with one having the personal experience of knowing folks who are working MORE, with the other knowing folks who are working LESS.

[TruTexan]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Ok, ok, you're right, it was a pathetic attempt at information. I didn't see your post and I was curious to see if what I understood was correct, so I did a quick and dirty google search. I didn't notice the date of the article and it was quick and easy to read, so that is why I posted it.

I will take a more thoroughly educated approach to the thread.

It is interesting to see two Texans on the thread with one having the personal experience of knowing folks who are working MORE, with the other knowing folks who are working LESS.

I'm not sure whom you are referring to besides me, but if it's Dee, she's in Louisiana and she's talking about drilling off-shore in the ocean. I'm talking about drilling ON LAND. That's probably why there is a difference in people working and not working, as they are drilling more on LAND from what my cousins have told me and from what my neighbor's son in law has stated about being in S. Dakota drilling.