Oil Prices

[Shocker85]

It would suck to live somewhere without QT's. They are such a breath of fresh air, in a generally uninspired and scuzzy market segment. And they're so consistent across the board, unlike Kwik Shop who has some locations that are similar to QT's, and others that make you feel like you need a tetanus shot before setting foot on the premises. There's a reason QT is the big dog in basically every geographic market they are in.

It is a bit infuriating though to realize you might be paying more at the pump so that gas retailers can compete in loyalty point shell games. Seems like maybe some anti-trust undertones could be in play. I've always basically ignored the loyalty point game (other than the no-brainer $.02 off at Kwik Shop with the Plus card), but it looks like all Wichita residents need to play the game in order to simply get true market pricing on gas.

Just think about this when you go to bed: the good folk in the OKC area have to tolerate Love's. OMG, they should have latex gloves available as you walk in the door and HazMat suits for using the restrooms. Yuck!

--'85.

[ShockTalk]

That can't be completely true, you can't buy full strength beer at QT in Kansas, no?

No, but they could come in and be the walkin' dog, which they are.

[SB Shock]

Saudi Arabia is prepared to raise its oil output to increase its market share, Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said in an interview, Reuters reported Dec. 21.

Go Saudi.....gas prices to $1!!!!!

[WuDrWu]

:cry:

[pinstripers]

There are a whole lot of baaaad unintended consequences when it drops this low.

[shocka khan]

It's not going to get that low. I'd say absent a flood of oil coming into the market, $50 will probably be the floor, WTI is looking like it's trying to find a bottom right now:

http://ycharts.com/indicators/crude_oil_spot_price

http://www.forbes.com/sites/billgreiner/2014/12/04/oil-prices-decline-turned-into-collapse/

The Saudi's are trying to drive the price low enough for us to mothball production in Bakken, Eagle Ford and so forth.

I'm betting that will be somewhere around $50 per barrel.

The Saudis making a short-term bet that they are the most efficient producer when the prices recover. If they are the most efficient producer, this will help them in the short term, as prices will increase relative to the inefficiencies in the market (they're betting it will take us longer to get our reserves back online).

Unfortunately for both the Saudis and OPEC, they don't have a longer-term answer for how to keep their cartel intact, especially since they now have a non-cartel seller (the US) that can create price disturbances in their model.

Here's an article regarding the real issues OPEC and the Saudi's are facing:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141204211859-325365745-why-opec-is-losing-its-power-over-the-global-economy

[ShockerGorilla]

There are a whole lot of baaaad unintended consequences when it drops this low.

Oh my! Will the butler have to do the gardening, too?

[Play Angry]

Dating back to 1946, oil has been lower than the current price of $55.54 (in inflation adjusted terms) on the first day of the calendar year 51 out of 68 times.

'76-'85 and '05-'13 look like pretty anomalous spikes on the long-term chart.

[pinstripers]

Oh my! Will the butler have to do the gardening, too?

Gee, I guess that's funny unless you were the gardener.

[1979Shocker]

With the low gas prices, I hope Congress doesn't get the idea that they need to help out the oil companies.

However, now would be the time if Congress or the states decided to increase the tax on gasoline to help pay for road repairs/improvements.

[Kung Wu]

However, now would be the time if Congress or the states decided to increase the tax on gasoline to help pay for road repairs/improvements.

Or we could cut out some of the tremendous amount of government waste and failed programs and use some of the revenues we are already collecting -- being that federal revenues are already at an all time high?

[1979Shocker]

Or we could cut out some of the tremendous amount of government waste and failed programs and use some of the revenues we are already collecting -- being that federal revenues are already at an all time high?

Yes. That would definitely be more cost effective. But would that put more money into road repairs, etc?

[Kung Wu]

Yes. That would definitely be more cost effective. But would that put more money into road repairs, etc?

Probably not.

[moshock]

With the low gas prices, I hope Congress doesn't get the idea that they need to help out the oil companies.

However, now would be the time if Congress or the states decided to increase the tax on gasoline to help pay for road repairs/improvements.

If they decided to tax oil/gas - how about an tax on imported oil/gas. Hopefully that would help keep some of the oil field jobs and let the middle east pay off some of our Obama-debt.

[wsushox1]

Or we could cut out some of the tremendous amount of government waste and failed programs and use some of the revenues we are already collecting -- being that federal revenues are already at an all time high?

The government waste and failed programs such as?

There's toooons of government waste, I can attest first hand to that as a former government employee. I'm just curious as to what programs you think are wasteful.