The Economy Of The Oil Industry

Over the past few years oil prices have been dropping. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (eig.gov), a barrel of oil cost $86.07 on October 20, 2013. As of October 20, 2015 a barrel of oil

Oil is the product that each and every one of us use. It can be used for fuel, heating and even cooking. The most often known for unstable price is crude oil or gasoline. According to the The Economist, The main reason for price shifts of oil is oversupply. The oil production in Saudi rose 10.3 million barrels per day. This increase is the effect of a new method that I being applied to oil extraction. This method is called fracking, fracking is where they drill into tight-rock formations then gradually turning horizontal for several thousand feet more. This results to accommodations to multiple oil wells. This new approved method of oil harvesting has raised the productivity gains and reduced the cost of harvesting oil.

High oil price for last few years drove the energy industry to come up with a new technological innovation and the result is a new drilling technique like hydraulic fracturing. This new technology made drilling easy in North Dakota and Texas (Timiraos, 2014). With more oil drilled domestically, U.S became net energy exporter instead of an importer. Also falling demand due to energy conservation, more efficient cars, less demand in China and OPEC opted against cutting production levels made the price go down. When Global economic growth was slowing and most economists agree that both supply and demand played role in the last year oil price plunge. Driven by the increased supply, oil price dropped from $82 to $50 between Oct'14 and Jan'15. The IMF summarizes 58% of the drop in oil price to supply and only 42% to demand.

Several oil-countries have been facing economic and political turbulence as a result of the crash in oil prices, and there is disagreement among OPEC as how to handle the situation. (Krauss) While this is happening, America’s oil production continues to rise, as it inches closer to becoming an energy superpower in production and consumption; and countries that depend on their oil exports face recession.

In addition to the US peak oil situation, the US Oil Drilling and Gas Extraction Industry faces heavy foreign market competition. In 2011, the US ranked 3rd in oil production, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia (Energy, 2012). Saudi Arabia’s OPEC governor expects Saudi output to rise steadily beyond 2030 with a 1.5 million barrel per day spare production capacity then (Energy, 2012). Russia holds the world’s largest

In January 2016, the cost of a gallon of gas dropped below two dollars, and consumers were rejoicing. Driving that car with twelve miles to the gallon car wasn’t so bad. Going to the grocery store was a little cheaper because of the transportation costs of goods. Americans could afford a like extra and never wonder about why the gas dropped. We were still hurting from three dollars or more for a gallon. Companies in the United States started drilling for oil on American soil in larger quantities than before two years earlier in 2014. Jobs in the industry were aplenty. Young adults straight out of high school could go into training for a year and come out making six figures by they were twenty-five. The amount of oil produced was

Gas prices have been decreasing in some states according to my research on google. Since there has been more oil found, we have more of a supply which means that the prices of gas will drop due to supply and demand. Now that we have more oil for gas, the supply has increased which means that even though demand is high, the prices are lower because we have that supply. It has been the lowest in years, dropping from about four dollars a gallon to about three and and a half. Even though this may seem like it isn’t important to the economy, it is because now more people can afford it so more money for the economy to make from its

Member nations of OPEC wanted high oil prices to support the fortunes of the ruling wealthy classes and to provide huge public benefits for a the member nation's poverty stricken and unemployed population (Steltzer, 2000).

According to current estimates, more than 80% of the world's proven oil reserves are located in OPEC Member Countries, with the bulk of OPEC oil reserves in the Middle East, amounting to around 66% of the OPEC total (OPEC Share of World Crude Oil Reserves, 2014). Competition amongst the U.S. and the Middle East has never reached this level before. There is a constant tension between the two countries and refuse to collaborate in dividing the market share equally. Furthermore, as both nations refuse any bipartisan agreement, there is no limiting the production of oil. Each nation is looking to drive out competition by any means. What they don’t realize is if they cooperated and reached an agreement amongst the international community, oil will remain profitable just as it was a few years ago. Though, this is unlikely to happen any time soon, but will eventually cause Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries to take a drastic decision when their main source of capital plummets due to the current price of oil. Profits are no longer seen in the oil industry. The Price of oil has been selling at around $50-$60 per barrel, not enough to cover production cost. The United States is able to withstand any contraction within the oil sector, as their financial portfolio is diversified, not solely reliant on the price of

Since 2008 many oil companies in the US have been selling 3.5 million barrels more than they did because the oil prices go up and down constantly. In New York the oil price has dropped nearly half in six months. Out of the 12 biggest oil producers in the world most all of them are in the Middle East because they don't have many jobs over there except drilling oil. The US is the biggest buyer of oil. China, Japan and then Western Europe are some other big buyers but they are slowly buying less and less. More oil is pumped than the world needs, that is why the prices of oil are going down. People that drive in vehicles are clicking their about this but oil companies are scratching their heads because they aren't making that much money.” Anytime

The recent drop in the price of crude oil by more than half since June 2014 involved complex causes, but much of the problem stemmed from an imbalance of supply and demand. The oil industry thrives on advances in science and technology and historically has proven remarkably adept at producing knowledge and techniques to locate, process, and transport oil but ill-equipped at using its investments into industrial research and development to create market stability. For example, American energy production has boomed in recent years due to advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling but those innovations created vulnerability for American oil producers and particularly for smaller independents when world production outpaced consumption and prices dropped.

Lower oil and gas prices are not as stimulative for the US economy today as they once were due to the negative impact on the oil and gas industry that has grown rapidly in recent years. The oil and gas rotary rig count is at a post-recession low of 795, less than 50% than the peak of active rigs a year ago (see today 's PROSPECTS 2016: Global oil market). Low oil prices are weighing on investment and employment plans of corporates in the energy sector; they will remain a restrain in 2016.

According to Domm (2013), the author of the first article, apart from the unrest in Egypt, several other factors such as a plunge in the inventories of domestic crude oil could drive up demand and in the end trigger an increase in the price of gas. In the opinion of the author, although the problems facing Egypt (and Libya) have affected supply

The United States may be one of the leading oil producers, but it refuses to join OPEC because we recognize the “cartel” it is and how it reaches ideal pricing through manipulation. The International Energy Agency announced that the United States is to surpass Saudi Arabia in oil production by 2020 because of the continuous advancement in technology. It will not retain the high status for long because the IEA estimated that the U.S.’s five years of glory will slump back second to Saudi Arabia in 2025. It’s unlikely the U.S. will join OPEC, because “In the U.S., the investment return is for oil companies and their shareholders, while for OPEC countries, the return is for state-owned oil companies and, ultimately, the governments of the member countries” (Loren, S.) . For once being an outsider is beneficial because as OPEC maintains oil prices stable and relatively high we are able to economically invest in new technology to extract oil and still gain millions in profit.

Just as any market experiences it’s fair share of ups and downs, the oil industry is currently running down a slippery slope. From coast to coast across the United States, the price of gasoline has plummeted to levels were last seen during the recession of 2009 (Krauss). Although prices have somewhat improved at various points throughout 2015, average prices have remained low and are expected to stay that way for the next several years. Many people are simply overjoyed that their wallet seems a little less empty and it now takes only half the cost to fill up their gas tank, however, in the greater scheme of economics this is definitely not the best for the economy