TOTALLY GEEKED!

I do not know if it will go below a dollar. Oil has dropped below $30 and some fear it will go below $20 a barrel.

Tangerine wrote:

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I really hope the price goes back up soon. The low low prices are really hurting some sectors of the economy.

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It's killing the business Wayne is in. That's for sure. 

It's 1.67 - 1.90 here. Just depends on which station you prefer.

The oil industry has boomed during these high price times, and benefitted greatly. Those prices cannot be sustained, and they hurt consumers. The rest of the economy will benefit from the lower prices.

it is hurting families, my area has rigs stacked.

we are paying $1.65 for reg and it makes my heart just hurt for the families who are being affected through no fault of their own. they are not the Big Oil Companies, but they are paying the price, no work....

I drove through town today. It was $1.86 -$1.89.

chef wrote:

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Filled up yesterday for $1.74.

I saw on FB yesterday that Michigan, I believe, was at 99 cents per gallon.

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I think that was a couple of gas stations having a price war, chef.

I don't think that's the price state wide in Michigan. 

Riding wrote:

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it is hurting families, my area has rigs stacked.

we are paying $1.65 for reg and it makes my heart just hurt for the families who are being affected through no fault of their own. they are not the Big Oil Companies, but they are paying the price, no work....

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 Exactly.  It's not the fault of the workers that the big wigs in the industry have over inflated the price of things.  But now people are paying with their jobs.  It's sad.

It will not equalize at the rate it is going. Until the people who set the rate of money per barrel of oil decide to play fair the workers will forever be beholden to them. And they never will play fair.

When gas went up everything went up. Groceries went up. All goods went up because of the excuse that with transporting them the price needed to be raised to cover the higher price of gas. The airlines raised their rates. If you notice no one has lowered their prices to reflect the lower gas prices.

And rationalizing it away by saying it was part of the gas bubble doesn't do a thing for families who have no jobs. And it's a HUGE impact because oil towns are basically shut down. It extends way beyond just the "oil workers". If men (and women) aren't going to work on the rigs then they don't need to go out to eat anymore. Now there's no need for waitresses or restaurant workers. And all the supplies for the rigs are on hold and those people don't have jobs. For every oil worker there is 100 people that don't directly work "in the industry" but have jobs because the industry thrives. The economic impact is enormous.

Oil will drop down close to $20. It won't go back up until Saudi stops over producing. They are doing so to drive the Russians, US, and Canada oil companies out of business. We need oil to be at ~80/barrel to cover costs, Saudi needs much less since they have slave labor.

I feel bad for anyone losing their jobs over this, but when you work 30 miles from where you live and public transportation is not an option, then believe me, these low prices are a godsend.

I know a 56 year old man who worked on an oil rig. He was laid off. He knew his chances of going back to work were so slim. He hung himself from the basement rafters.

I am happy with the reduced gas prices (although kerosene has not gone down over here). I am more concerned about when the stock market is going to stop this steep decline it is in...

Nobody Just Nobody wrote:

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Riding wrote:

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it is hurting families, my area has rigs stacked.

we are paying $1.65 for reg and it makes my heart just hurt for the families who are being affected through no fault of their own. they are not the Big Oil Companies, but they are paying the price, no work....

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 Exactly.  It's not the fault of the workers that the big wigs in the industry have over inflated the price of things.  But now people are paying with their jobs.  It's sad.

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 Wha??? It costs u.s. oil companies $80. A barrel to extract and refine. Everyone is losing money on the intended supply glut by the Saudi s. But they will continue until we are out of business. It's the u.s oil companies that have made it possible for the u.s. not to bow down to OPEC demands.

Lawyerlady wrote:

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Say someone makes $10 an hour. That's over minimum wage. That's still only $400 GROSS a week, take home is probably about $325. And a economy vehicle with a 12 gallon tank would take $45 to fill up with gas at $3.79 a gallon. Assuming only one fill up a week is needed, that's still well over 13% of their take home pay. Higher gas price do not help the general public or the economy as a whole. So, apparently, one industry is more important than everyone else in the country? The working poor can just suck it up so the oil industry can continue to make record profits?

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 There is a greater benefit though.  Those people have jobs for many reasons as do the rest of us.  We also have security for many reasons.  The biggest reason is combating the Saudi monopoly on oil. Yes it costs more to extract it here because we don't have slave labor as they do, but it keeps us independent from having to rely on OPEC.  That is huge. Given the negative posts here, I get that most don't get how huge being independent of OPEC oil is to the security of the US and actually saves us money in other areas.

Divine Geek wrote:

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Not so fun fact: there are over 1000 fewer US oil rigs in operation today than this time last year

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 And each of them provided jobs.