Oil Falls More Than $2 per Barrel
September 19th, 2006 | by Brian Carr |The price of crude oil fell $2.14 today to settle at $61.66 a barrel. Today’s price represents the lowest close since mid-March, when oil finished the day at $60.57.
Today’s price drop can be attributed to several items, which include:
- The continued rise in world wide inventory levels.
- Slowing economic growth in the United States, which could lead to a significant drop in the demand for oil and gasoline.
- The continued peaceful stand off between the West and Iran over the Iranian nuclear program.
- The realization that the hurricane season may be less severe than anticipated.
Unfortunately, it appears that not everyone is happy about the 20% drop in the price of oil, as OPEC has released statements saying it could begin to cut oil production if prices drop much lower.
With the latest drop in oil, the average price of gasoline in the United States fell another $.02, and now stands at $2.47 per gallon, with many locations across the country seeing gas much lower than that. For example, according to Gasbuddy.com, the average price of gas in Des Moines, Iowa has fallen to $2.07 per gallon.
