Gas prices still headed lower
Oklahomans are continuing to enjoy some of the lowest gasoline prices in the nation, AAA.COM shows.
The statewide average for a gallon of gas today is $3.121, compared to a national average of 3.504.
Experts say prices in Oklahoma and the nation continue to fall because of falling demand. They attribute the demand drop to deepening concerns the country is in a recession. The U.S. consumes about a quarter of the oil used daily within the world, they add.
By Jack Money, Business Writer
Lowest is good, when it comes to gas
When it comes to being lowest, I’ll take it when we have the lowest gas prices in the nation.
That’s where we’ve been since the middle of last week, when
And we’ve been there ever since.
On Sept. 15, based primarily on hurricane fall-out, the nation’s average gas prices jumped nearly 20 cents a gallon, edging back toward that dreaded $4 a gallon mark.
In the three weeks since, though, it’s dropped 30 cents a gallon.
Here in the
As for where it goes for here, well, I’m not a betting man.
But for now, I’ll believe in the experts, who tell me that as long as demand keeps falling, so will the price.
So, we will see what happens.
If the market stays cyclical, we can expect prices to continue to fall until about February, when they’ll start yet another annual climb as refineries begin to shift their production from winter to summer blends.
In the meantime, though, enjoy!
Jack Money, Business Writer
Making a case for CO2
The National Stripper Well Association is promoting the benefits of using carbon dioxide to enhance oil recovery from the nation’s marginal wells.
The association, under the leadership of Tulsa’s Dewey Bartlett Jr., says its position is a radical one in the world of U.S. oil because it provides an opportunity for environmentalists and domestic oil producers to join forces.There are several Oklahoma City-based companies, however — including some big ones — working with the technology, though.
Chaparral Energy is using it for enhanced oil recovery in some fields, as is Devon Energy Corp. SandRidge Energy, which also is producing the gas as part of its production from its Texas natural gas wells, also is marketing the product to oil producers to enhance recoveries from their wells.
It works well. The association estimates using carbon dioxide for enhanced recoveries in oil wells would increase their production by 30 percent.
At the same time, using the gas in that way instead of just releasing it into the atmosphere would help reduce green-house gases, it says.
Major emitters of carbon dioxide include power plants, and some major power producers are working on projects to capture and sell the gas.
“The benefit of this technology is two-fold,” Bartlett says. “Investing in this technology just makes sense.”
By Jack Money
jmoney@opubco.com
Lowest gas prices a lock today
A gallon of gas’ average cost in the Sooner
By Jack Money, Business Writer
Still lowest
We’re widening the gap.
According to AAA’s Website on gasoline prices,
That price is nearly three cents a gallon less than statewide averages anywhere else in the country.
Closest to
Other states with relatively close prices are
By Jack Money, Business Writer
More on the story in today’s Business section about politics and oil
Tax bill rising
Brook Simmons, a lobbyist who represents the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association in Washington, said the oil and natural gas industry will be impacted by a tax bill that already cleared the Senate and is headed through the House. It proposes leaving a production activity expense deduction at its current amount instead of allowing it to increase, changing the taxes levied on foreign oil and gas extraction income, and extending and increasing the oil spill tax. Together, these measures would raise an extra $8.8 billion for the federal government.
It also, though, does a couple of good things for the industry — extending a tax suspension on income made by marginal wells, and providing credits for carbon dioxide capture and re-injection into the ground. Simmons said the tax increase measures are intended to impact “integrated majors,” companies typically referred to by Congress as “Big Oil.”
“But it allows the camel’s nose into the tent,” he said.
An attack
When Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced it would curtail its drilling and production for the next two-plus years because of soft natural gas prices, the Wilderness Society quickly reacted.
“Chesapeake’s actions and attitude typify the ‘public be damned’ manner in which the oil and gas industry in this country operates,” said Wilderness Society Senior Policy Advisor Dave Alberswerth. While the industry and Republicans were busy convincing American consumers and Congress that the key to lowering energy costs was more drilling, one of the nation’s biggest independent producers made plans to cut its drilling and operations because of concerns about profits, he said.
Industry officials, though, say Chesapeake is just protecting investors’ dollars by slowing production. It would be unreasonable for the American public to expect a company to put itself into bankruptcy to create lower energy prices, they noted.
“They know what they are doing,” said Mike Terry, president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association. “It is a business, and they are going to do what they can to maximize their returns. But they are going to continue to drill. It is not like they are going to quit.”
Still lowest
Well, Oklahoma still has the lowest statewide gas average in the nation, AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com shows today. And it’s still dropping. That could be good news for both Oklahomans and the nation.
See, I’ve been on this job since Thanksgiving. And one thing I’ve noticed about our state’s gasoline and diesel prices is that they are trend-setters.
True, the state’s average price per gallon is pretty much, all the time, about 20 cents cheaper than the national average.
But what I mean is this: When Oklahoma’s average fuel prices are headed lower, then so is the nation’s — most of the time, anyway.
Within Oklahoma, you can see that play out even more.
Average fuel prices in Tulsa, which has two of the state’s biggest refineries, are a good indicator of where fuel prices are headed in the state. If they are dropping, then prices throughout the remainder of the state are sure to follow.
Speaking of prices, can you recall the last time the average price of gasoline was $3 a gallon?
Jack Money, Business Writer
Gasoline prices worth shouting about
Oklahomans are enjoying some of the lowest gas prices in the nation for at least the third time this year.
AAA’s Website, www.fuelgaugereport.com, reports Sooner State motorists are paying an average price of $3.434 a gallon.
The second lowest statewide average in the nation, the Website reports, is New Jersey, where the price is $3.438 a gallon. Next comes Kansas, where motorists are paying an average price of $3.459.
This is the third time this summer Oklahomans have found themselves paying the least, on a statewide average.
It also happened in June and it happened in July.
The state has five operating refineries, in Ardmore, Ponca City, Wynnewood, and two in Tulsa, and analysts say that helps keep prices low because transportation costs to get the fuel from refiners to stations is less.
The state also has lower fuel taxes than much of the nation, which helps as well, analysts have said.
By Jack Money, Business Writer
Knowing what Chesapeake knows
Natural gas spot prices have been headed lower since July, and not even two hurricanes hitting hotbeds of production along the
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the contract price for an October delivery of 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas fell to its lowest price in 2008 last week, closing at $7.248.
Meanwhile, natural gas in underground storage on Sept. 12 totaled more than 2.9 trillion cubic feet — 2.1 percent above the five-year average.
Federal officials said the hurricanes were not as disruptive to the market as they could have been because of mild weather across the
While federal official expect the nation’s natural gas consumption to increase by 2.7 percent in 2008 and by 2.2 percent in 2009, gas production is expected to climb by 7.8 percent in 2008 and by 3.8 percent in 2009.
By Jack Money, Business Writer
Storms could have been worse, federal government says
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike were the perfect storms that weren’t.
While the two storms hit just 12 days apart and shut off crude oil supplies and refinery production, they did it at a time when gasoline inventories were falling anyway as refiners prepared to switch over to cold-weather blends.
Anyway, it appears only the supplies were impacted, as the industry’s infrastructure survived mostly in tact.
So while much of the south-central U.S.’s petroleum refining capacity remained offline by the middle of last week, refineries in other parts of the nation were able to help take up the slack because they had available capacity.
Also, the federal government stepped in to help – deliveries from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve kept crude oil flowing.
And while wholsale prices for gasoline spiked before the storm hit, they already were headed back the other way toward the end of the week.
Up-to-date information on Hurricane Ike’s impact on U.S. oil infrastructure is available on the EIA Report on Hurricane Impacts on U.S. Energy Website.
