Posted on 05/05/2025 11:22:54 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
Oil producing countries are bracing for a bumpy ride this year, with a precipitous drop in prices to the lowest levels in four years seen as the initial, alarming sign of looming turmoil.
A price drop benefits any country seeking to cut its fuel bill. But in oil producing nations, lower prices can feed economic troubles, and sometimes political unrest, as governments slash spending.
Analysts who had already been predicting lower oil prices because of softening demand amid increased global production said the possibility of a tariff trade war and the overall climate of uncertainty could well deepen producers’ woes.
“The steep price dive and overall volatility is sending a very strong signal that the global economy is going to be rattled this year and that will translate into a lower demand for oil,” said Gregory Brew, a specialist in oil and gas geopolitics with the Eurasia Group, a New York-based risk analysis organization.
Earlier this year, the price for benchmark crude held steady around $73 a barrel, high enough to sustain the budgets of most producing nations. But some countries, like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, base ambitious development plans on a price of at least $90 a barrel, analysts say.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have earmarked hundreds of billions of dollars for giant projects to try to diversify their economies away from oil. Although Saudi Arabia pays for its Vision 2030 development program outside its annual budget, the huge, futuristic city project, Neom, depends on oil revenues.
In Iran, international sanctions have whittled its oil customers down. There’s China, but its demand for oil has slackened markedly amid an economic slowdown.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Why did you put journalism in quotation marks?
Is the geopolitical impact of declining oil prices fake news?
Brent crude was $80.19 on January 2. Today it is $60.14. If you think that that doesn’t severely weaken petro-dependent countries, you have your head buried in the sand.
Every price change has happy people and sad people. Consumers will be happy if this means the price goes down at the gas pump and the grocery store.
Don’t weep too much for the oil producers; they move their agile little feet to the profit side of the supply line, wherever that line happens to be at the moment.
If the price of crude drops too low, the incentive for more domestic exploration goes away as it becomes more difficult to recoup costs. While lower prices are a help to the overall economy, they are not good for Trump’s desire to more production here.
“ I like seeing my diesel needs below $3 a gallon.”
Diesel is one of the cheapest fuels to produce. If it were not for taxes it would always cost less than gasoline. You have the politicians to thank for +$3.00 per gallon diesel.
“....but if they think we are supposed to cry for Venezuela....”
It’s quite a leap in your imagination to believe that the article asks the reader to cry for Venezuela. Or for Iran or Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Russia.
Oooooh. Scarewy. 🤡
Of course, the question is: what was the price 4 years ago?🤔
And how did that price compare to the price 4 years before that?
I'm no expert on oil prices but if I had a farm I'd bet it that the price of oil goes up and down.
Yeah, man, I’ll just take $4.00/gal (Biden, Whitmer), it’ll make drivers switch to electrics to save the environment, bring world peace, or something... wait - we hate Teslas now. I’m soooo confused. (non driver living in parent’s basement on the five year plan at some commuter college.)
So the NY Times is worried that there won’t be enough drilling of dirty oil and gas ?
only the NYT would pretend that lower prices is bad news, well at least while Republicans are in charge ...
What would we do without the NY Times to find the dark cloud in every silver lining.
Time to refill the strategic oil reserves that biden drained.
Russia needs $70.00 a barrel oil to break even.
Falling oil prices do not indicate a “weakening” demand, but does encourage greater consumption, which in turn, steadies the price side of the equation. There is a strike point between the price the consumer is willing to pay, and the price the producer is willing to accept, and the trick is to find it. The market is a very exact barometer of where this point is at any given time.
Cost/benefit ratios are sometimes confounding things to calibrate.
“So the NY Times is worried that there won’t be enough drilling of dirty oil and gas ?”
Where did you read that?
“What would we do without the NY Times to find the dark cloud in every silver lining.”
Where did the article point to a dark cloud? Venezuela’s and Iran’s problems are not ours.
Oil and gas prices are coming down. The horrors!
Or increased supply.. drill baby drill.
Wouldn’t you know that the New York Times would find
SOMETHING WRONG WITH FALLING OIL PRICES.
Those, all of them at the Times, are freakin’ lunatics, who will do anything for a BUCK, or anything to scream a negative headline.
I have no idea what they wrote about it.
“only the NYT would pretend that lower prices is bad news...”
Where did you read that?
“But in oil producing nations, lower prices can feed economic troubles, and sometimes political unrest, as governments slash spending.” Those countries do not include the US.
To take it even further, bad news for Venezuela, Iran, and Russia is GOOD news for us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.