Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
There are a number of reasons why there is a glut of crude oil on the market.
No refineries have been shut down because of storms, there is a large amount of domestic production going on, the US is using less oil, OPEC has been fighting about production levels, and we just had an election.
My personal opinion is that OPEC recognizes that the US is becoming less and less dependent upon their crude oil, and they are driving down prices to make our domestic production unprofitable. Once our domestic production is reduced, OPEC will suddenly all agree upon production levels, the crude glut will be eliminated, and prices will rise.
I hope that I'm wrong and lower prices are here to stay, but it's not the first time we've been through the same thing. I'll certainly enjoy it while it lasts, but how long it lasts is anyone's guess. I'm not going to bank on it being this low for long.
My feelings exactly. OPEC knows that even though we have a huge amount of oil underground, the price of oil must be at a certain level to make it profitable to pump US oil from the ground. If they can pump it cheaper, they will, with the long range goal of shutting down our wells. It's basically the same method Rockefeller used generations ago.