Over the last few weeks the price has gone down from a pound to about 87p does anybody know why?
Are OPEC producing more or is there another price war happening or has the situation in Iraq stabilised the price?
2006-09-19 21:11:12 · 14 answers · asked by BadShopper 4 in News & Events ➔ Current Events
Saudi Arabia has announced it will increase its oil production in a bid to keep the price of crude down. They say they want to see the price of a barrel of oil at 25 dollars, down from the current price of 30 dollars per barrel.
Oil prices have trebled in the last 15 months, and the increases have quickly found their way to petrol pumps. Consumers in the US and the UK are up in arms about it and the pressure is mounting on politicians to do something to lower prices.
Saudi officials fear that unless prices come down, customers could start switching to other fuels. But would this be such a bad thing? After all, it was the oil crises of the 1970s that gave us fuel-efficient cars.
Could this price hike encourage investment and research into other forms of energy? Or should Western governments be doing all they can to keep oil prices low?
2006-09-19 21:19:06 · answer #1 · answered by »»» seagull ««« 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tesco and Asda started a bit of a petrol price war, and over recent weeks the price of crude and refined products has come down a bit - maybe 10% or so. The market is affected by many factors and I don't think we can see this as any sort of sea change, as far as I know forecasts expect prices to remain around the levels they have been over the last year for the next year at least, if anything the fundamentals suggest the market will trend upwards over time.
2006-09-19 21:29:18 · answer #2 · answered by Sangmo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Price per barrely for crude has dropped.
The world oil market works on future demand/supply guess work.
The high prices we saw before were caused by panic ( middle east crisis hurricanes in florida and texas shutting down drilling , refineries closing down etc etc ) bad news of any kind will effect the price.
Once the panic is over things settle down until the next one. However consumption is rising fast with china and india coming on line in a big way so the underlying price will continue to rise.
2006-09-19 21:22:37 · answer #3 · answered by commentator 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Many reasons.
It's the end of the driving season and air-conditioned summer in America so less demand as well as a huge (thank goodness!) slump in the sales of fuel guzzling SUVs.
The Middle East is slightly quieter. Crude oil supply is going up a bit, though it is on a knife edge.
Similarly, oil refineries taken out by the hurricanes are back up and running and high prices have lead to more investment in fuel refineries...much of the price increases were amplified by the lack of refining capacity due to lack of investment when oil prices were higher.
Lastly, supermarket loss-leading price competition to get people into their stores has lead to a price war.
2006-09-20 02:05:22 · answer #4 · answered by WillORNG 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Could it be that someone is trying to manipulate oil stock prices downward at a time that many small investors have bought into the market of oil ?
Its a game !
I believe very little oil used in the USA comes from the middle east, and it is only used as an excuse to 'market' the market of oil....?
Now the big boys are introducing alternative hybrid vehciles...
2006-09-19 21:21:04 · answer #5 · answered by Caesar J. B. Squitti 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It started with the supermarkets lowering prices to attract customers and then the main petrol companies followed suit.
The supermarkets then lowered again, sparking a price war.
Great for the customer. The companies then try to offset the price reduction by volume of sales.
Bit of a less is more philosophy.
2006-09-19 21:18:05 · answer #6 · answered by paul m 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Getting you prepared for the big increase in November, my mom tells me never to trust prices that go down because they will always go back up and at a higher rate.
2006-09-19 21:19:55 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two other reasons
The concerns about sanctions being imposed in the middle east (due to ongoing conflicts) has been lifted
A new pipeline has been opened pumping fuel to the UK form Norway (I believe)
2006-09-19 21:21:58 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The price per barrel has dropped. or they got worried about the outcry when it finally pushed over £1 a litre
2006-09-19 21:15:06 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Arrrrggghhh!!!!!! That's about 58p A GALLON less. Oil prices haven't dropped THAT much. They WOULD NOT sell at a loss. So it means they were extorting money from us in the first place. Thieving B'stards!!!!
2006-09-19 21:21:21 · answer #10 · answered by Warlock Fiend 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋