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Low Oil Prices: A $660 Billion Stimulus Package
BuzzFeed News ^ | October 16, 2014 | Matthew Zeitlin

Posted on 10/17/2014 3:01:13 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Crude prices have plunged by more than 20% in recent months. The fall means cheaper gas, cheaper flights, and generally good news for American consumers.

Oil prices have been falling for months, and the slide could easily continue. With unprecedented instability in the Middle East, how could this be happening?

The answer, according to analysts who follow the market, is a little bit of everything, from economic fundamentals in big oil consuming countries to growth in output among some oil producers. But much more clear is the effect of tumbling prices: Low oil prices are the equivalent of a massive stimulus program for oil consumers . They’re also bad news for oil exporters.

Energy analysts have been cutting their projections for global oil demand, while big producers like Saudi Arabia show no sign of slowing down production. And according to Citigroup analysts, oil at current prices around $80 is still high enough to justify North American shale producers to continue pumping it out. Less demand, the same high production levels — it’s a perfect recipe for price drops.

“Looking ahead, shale production growth can be sustainable for the medium term in the US, and could spread globally; increasingly, global oil prices may hinge on shale as “swing” production,” a team of Citigroup analysts wrote in a note. Prices would have to get down to around $50 before drilling would no longer profitable. U.S. oil production has skyrocketed, going from 8.32 million barrels a day in 2005 to 12.53 million barrels a day in 2013....

(Excerpt) Read more at buzzfeed.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Government; Russia
KEYWORDS: costofliving; economy; energy; fracking; newt; newtgingrich; oil; opec; russia; saudiarabia; shale; shaleoil; tightoil; vladtheimploder

1 posted on 10/17/2014 3:01:14 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Looks like “drill here, drill now” works - in spite of all the roadblocks the Libs have been putting out.


2 posted on 10/17/2014 3:15:47 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

No, a “Stimulus Package” is a Democrat spending bill, cheaper gas at the pump is never the intent of Democrats.


3 posted on 10/17/2014 3:24:46 AM PDT by Son House (Who's going to clean up Bush's mess now? </sarc>)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
With unprecedented instability in the Middle East, how could this be happening?

Competition from fracking in the US?

4 posted on 10/17/2014 3:33:12 AM PDT by TwelveOfTwenty (See my home page for some of my answers to the left's talking points.)
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To: PeteB570
You are correct, but Obama will get the credit if this leads to an actual economic recovery.

Just as Clinton got the credit for the jobs created by the Tech Boom and the "balanced budget" that was enabled by not having to budget for the Cold War.

5 posted on 10/17/2014 3:35:49 AM PDT by TwelveOfTwenty (See my home page for some of my answers to the left's talking points.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They will cite lower gas prices as the reason to raise gas taxes.


6 posted on 10/17/2014 3:40:56 AM PDT by icwhatudo (Low taxes and less spending in Sodom and Gomorrah is not my idea of a conservative victory)
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To: TwelveOfTwenty

It’s too late for Mr. Obama to get the credit. Secretary Clinton or Senator Cruz will look like heroes, depending on how 2016 goes.


7 posted on 10/17/2014 3:53:28 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Great. Maybe we can buy beef once a week with our gasoline savings if they ever come to Texas. Yes, NJ and SC have had lower gas prices than Texas and our electricity bills keep going up. We are getting hosed by our energy companies, as usual.


8 posted on 10/17/2014 4:20:50 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Saudis are opening the taps 1 as a geopolitical move against Russia 2 to preserve market share among other exporters and 3 to make fracking and other nontraditional recovery methods less economically viable, again, to preserve market share.


9 posted on 10/17/2014 4:38:53 AM PDT by balch3
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To: txrefugee
our gasoline savings if they ever come to Texas. Yes, NJ and SC have had lower gas prices


10 posted on 10/17/2014 4:49:38 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer.)
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To: PeteB570
Looks like “drill here, drill now” works - in spite of all the roadblocks the Libs have been putting out.

Yup, imagine if they actually had a serious strategy for increasing domestic production. Think back to the final days of Bush, when gas spiked to $4.00/gal in the NE. All Bush did was start issuing drilling permits and the prices tumbled to around $2.00. It's economics 101.

11 posted on 10/17/2014 4:55:21 AM PDT by YankeeReb
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To: YankeeReb
All Bush did was start issuing drilling permits

Neither President G.W. Bush nor his administration made any change at that time to issue more drilling permits. The price fell with a crashing economy driven a lot by a real estate bubble.

12 posted on 10/17/2014 5:15:24 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

So Palin was not so stupid after all....

Who would a thunk it. /s


13 posted on 10/17/2014 5:41:30 AM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: Son House

They’ll gladly take credit for it when it happens, though.

High gas price: Republicans’ fault! Big Oil! Bush! Halliburton! No War for Oil! Price gouging! Conspiracy!

Low gas price: See how awesome Obama is? He cares about the little guy!


14 posted on 10/17/2014 5:51:39 AM PDT by Cymbaline ("Allahu Akbar": Arabic for "Nothing To See Here" - Mark Steyn)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The price of oil (and gold and silver etc) has long been completely controlled. There are a few links below. However, I can’t find the best article I ever read on it showing exactly how small the number of people controlling the price are, and who they work for.

http://www.nasdaq.com/personal-finance/
http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/24/markets/oil_price_speculation/index.htm
http://www.ftseglobalmarkets.com/news/cftc-fines-traders-for-manipulation-of-nymex-crude-oil-futures.html


15 posted on 10/17/2014 7:50:02 AM PDT by Prophet2520
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Oil prices are dropping because of TWO reasons.
1. US Fracking success
2. Worldwide oil demand is slowing, including US.
You do not need much gas if you have no job.


16 posted on 10/21/2014 10:49:51 AM PDT by entropy12 (Marxist, race baiter, community organizer boy king is 10 times worse than any RINO)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; cardinal4; ...

Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.

Lower oil prices are unambiguously good
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3216683/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/vladtheimploder/index


17 posted on 10/25/2014 5:59:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: thackney

I week or so ago I filled up at $2.809 in Grand Haven; it was at a Walmart-adjacent station (I forget the name), and the Meijer station across the street had raised to $3.259, iow, 45 cents. The rest of the town and neighboring towns on my route had likewise raised prices, and the Grand Rapids area was in that vicinity the following day. The prices have been bouncing around, but haven’t returned (yet) to the $3.30s. We’ll see what happens after the election of course.


18 posted on 10/25/2014 6:02:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Is this the first time in Obama's Presidency that gas has been under 3 bucks a gallon?

Answer: of course not. It was about $1.90 the day he took office. IOW, gasoline prices need to drop another 30% to get it under $2.

19 posted on 10/25/2014 6:04:14 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Mississippi!)
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