The scarce ways that crude oil costs could drop
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The scarce ways that crude oil costs could drop
Jeremy Hobson: President Obama heads to Nevada today to talk energy policy in light of those sky high gas prices. There’s not much the president can do to bring down oil or gas prices in the short run.
But Marketplace’s Scott Tong reports on three ways the cost of crude could actually fall.
Scott Tong: Scenario One to push down prices is brought to you by the letter S: More supply from countries that start with… you know:
Amrita Sen: Sudan, Yemen, and Syria would be the three big ones. And the other thing very much would be Saudi Arabia might continue to increase production.
That was Barclays Capital analyst Amrita Sen. Saudi promises to pump more oil in fact nudged prices down already.
Scenario Two: if Iran calms down. Depending on who you talk to, there’s a Middle East-nervousness premium built into the price — perhaps 10 to 15 percent of it.
And Scenario Three is gonna sound a little weird but — we all just do nothing different.
Here’s Steven Kopits at Douglas Westwood.
Steven Kopits: The U.S. as a society is already beginning to reorganize itself to higher oil prices. The vehicles that we do have are becoming more fuel efficient.
And, our economy is getting less oil-dependent — it’s creating more jobs with less driving.
In Washington, I’m Scott Tong for Marketplace
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