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Oil futures finished lower for a second straight day, thanks in large part to the continuation of a cease fire between Israel and Hizbollah. Today crude oil fell $.48 to $73.05 per barrel and has fallen roughly 7% from the record high of $78.40 set on July 14.
Thanks to this recent drop in oil prices, the average price for a gallon of regular gas has fallen to $2.966, about $.08 lower than at this point last week.
Unfortunately though, it appears that at best, prices will remain at these levels for the next couple of days thanks to supply reductions caused by BP’s Prudhoe Bay fiasco as well as kidnapping of foreign oil workers in Nigeria.
At second glance, it certainly appears that BP’s Alaskan oil field problem could have been much worse, which in turn would have pushed oil and gas prices even higher. According to many reports, BP believes that it will be able to keep roughly half of Prudhoe Bay open while the remainder undergoes thorough pipeline repair.
And finally, as seems to be the case lately, with every bit of positive gas news comes a bit of negative news. It now appears that BP shareholders are suing the company because of the Alaskan oil field shut down. The law suit staes that BP breached its duty to its shareholders because it “repeatedly failed to fund the work necessary to correct the problem,” with the problem being the corrosion to the pipelines.
I’m sure on some level, this nasty little law suit will trickle down into the price you pay at the pump.
All of that being said, it appears that the people who predicted a spike in gas prices following BP’s first announcement regarding Prudhoe Bay (myself included) are eating a bit of crow. Hopefully this will continue to be the case; I don’t mind being wrong if it means we’re all saving some money!
