As Americans approach the summer peak driving season, a time that tends to push up gas prices, many of their wallets will likely take short-term comfort. That's because the world's largest oil-producing nations don't expect petroleum to breach the $100-a-barrel mark for the next 10 years. In fact, oil prices will likely remain far below that threshold, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has put out a study comparing various supply and demand scenarios over the next decade and has surmised that petroleum will be priced at about $76 a barrel in 2025 under what they call the most optimistic scenario (others might says it's the worst case). Oil prices could also be as low as $40, the Journal says, citing people familiar with the report.
Among individual OPEC nations, Qatar and Kuwait are in the best position to weather lower prices, while Algeria is in the worst. Overall, crude production is up thanks to a combination of more North American fracking and increased supply from countries like Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
To get an idea of what impact these lower prices and the relative petroleum glut has on the lives of typical Americans, take a look at average US gas prices. While they've gone up to about $2.69 a gallon from $2.39 a gallon a month ago, they're still well down from the $3.64 average a year ago, according to AAA. And that seems to have impacted US green-car demand. Through April, US sales of hybrids, plug-ins and diesels were down 16 percent from a year earlier to almost 159,000 units.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has put out a study comparing various supply and demand scenarios over the next decade and has surmised that petroleum will be priced at about $76 a barrel in 2025 under what they call the most optimistic scenario (others might says it's the worst case). Oil prices could also be as low as $40, the Journal says, citing people familiar with the report.
Among individual OPEC nations, Qatar and Kuwait are in the best position to weather lower prices, while Algeria is in the worst. Overall, crude production is up thanks to a combination of more North American fracking and increased supply from countries like Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
To get an idea of what impact these lower prices and the relative petroleum glut has on the lives of typical Americans, take a look at average US gas prices. While they've gone up to about $2.69 a gallon from $2.39 a gallon a month ago, they're still well down from the $3.64 average a year ago, according to AAA. And that seems to have impacted US green-car demand. Through April, US sales of hybrids, plug-ins and diesels were down 16 percent from a year earlier to almost 159,000 units.
Sign in to post
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Continue