gas and oil prices plummeting today

[ProdigalJunkMail]

why so much drop? is this because of the EU and the US opening reserves? How long til it shoots back up???

http://bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/energyprices.html

subjectProdigal

[xray s]

1. production is coming back online

prices will zoom up when the next hurricaine enters the gulf.

[Pirate Smile]

2. I have found the happy, happy, joy, joy reaction of Wall Street to

this disaster perplexing.

:wtf:

[Zynx]

3. People want to cash in those fat gasoline and oil contracts

[Imagevision]

4. yeah -right they're down to $3.09 in Ft. Myers Fla.

[Spazito]

5. What they are NOT telling you is that 26 countries are sending oil

to the US due to a request by the International Energy Agency:

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/09/02/1199612-cp.html

SASKATOON (CP) - Prime Minister Paul Martin promised Friday that Canada will provide more energy to the U.S. in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, but with oil production already flat-out, Canadians will have to use less fuel to create the extra supply.

Responding to a plea from the International Energy Agency for member countries to release reserves, Martin said Canada is prepared to help.

snip

Earlier Friday, the Paris-based agency said it will release two million barrels of oil each day for the next month from strategic reserves held by some of its 26 member countries.

snip

Canada's share of the voluntary commitment is 91,000 barrels of oil per day.

[enid602]

6. oil price

I think there is greater realization this week of Katrina's long-term potential for the US economy. Temporarily lowering prices.

[all.of.me]

7. i'm gonna go to town, and i'll check to see if they've plummeted here.

[durablend]

8. Definitely NOT here

Ranges from $3.15-3.39 and not budging (other than edging up somewhat)

[LostinVA]

9. Not in MY area... $3.29 yesterday, $3.29 about ten minutes ago

Central VA.

[Skidmore]

10. Perhaps the oil barons are trying to take the heat off of *.

[bushisanidiot]

12. Yep, probably at AWOL's request.. he knows the economy is sinking

fast and he can only blame so much on katrina.. but the oil companies were raising prices by leaps and bounds in anticipation of labor day travel.

[Tyranny_R_US]

11. Remember it dropped below $1 after Sept 11th...

:wtf:

[all.of.me]

13. so i went to town, and prices have not plummeted here

they have not budged, up or down, let alone plummet.

[durablend]

14. My bet on prices here (central PA)

It'll drop down to $2.99, and that'll be the end of it (no matter if markets drop any further). The oil companies KNOW they can get away with gouging with no retribution so they're just going to keep on doing it.

[RebelOne]

15. The prices for regular have been $2.99

for the past week here in North Georgia. And that's only because the Governor rescinded the gas tax.

[trekbiker]

16. drop in oil prices is temporary..

due to release from strategic reserves, possible reduced demand due to high gas prices, etc. It remains to be seen how fast gulf oil well production comes back on line, they took a huge hit. the loss of 500,000+ barrels/day of gulf production for several months could negate any strategic reserve releases. and those reserves will have to be replenished long term. also, China has just started expanding thier own strategic reserve. Refinery production should come back on line fairly fast so maybe pump prices have peaked. the market feels that this disaster will negatively impact the economy over the next 6months to a year and that Greenspan will halt his interest rate increases. Greenspan is caught between the risks of inflation (if he quits the boosts) and recession (if he continues to boost and tighten the money supply). Katrina tips the economy towards the possibility of recession. Market thinks he will opt for the chance of inflation over recession and is bullish right now. for any DU'ers who happen to be investors you may want to think about buying oil (Canadian trusts, big oil, oil services, tankers, etc.) on any price corrections. we are in a multi-year commodity bull that, barring world wide recession, could go on for several more years

IMHO

[Wcross]

17. You can't expect stations to drop prices right away!

I mean, they paid a higher price for the gas in the ground so they have to charge more for it. Its like when there is a big price jump and they still have cheaper gas in the ground- they don't jack the price up right away do they? eerrrrr, oh, never mind.

[HamdenRice]

18. Price drop in crude might mean bad news for gasoline and heating oil

The price of crude oil is dropping, but that might actually be an ominous sign for consumers. That's because Katrina has caused a shortage in refined petroleum products -- gasoline, jet fuel and home heating oil. The shortage had caused higher prices.

Katrina caused the shortage three ways: first, the lack of electricity knocked out the two pipelines that move most of the east coast's refined petroleum up from the gulf to east coast cities. Second, it severely damaged refineries along the gulf coast that actually turn crude into refined product. Finally it destroyed dozens of oil platforms in the gulf that produce crude.

The missing crude can be replaced by the petroleum reserve and increased imports, but the bottleneck is refineries and pipelines.

The pipelines were restored, but only after most east coast cities drew down their usual 7-10 stored supplies to 24-48 hours of supplies. With the pipelines still not at full capacity, they cannot replace the cushion and meet current demand at the same time.

Meanwhile the refineries will take months to repair. The fact that crude is down may be a bad sign: namely that crude supplies are building up in the gulf, but there is no capacity to turn them into gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and heating oil.

[kick-ass-bob]

19. $3.19 down to 3.14 here.