Oil falls below $100 per barrel again

It’s a bit premature to forget that electric car and start looking into an old bus for sale; however, oil did fall below $100 per barrel on Monday for the second time in less than 30 days. By midday trading, oil had fallen more than eight dollars off Friday’s closing price, averaging around $98.65 per barrel.

This is despite US Gulf Coast crude production still ramping up following Hurricanes Ike and Gustav; presently, 57 percent of oil and 53 percent of natural gas production from the Gulf Coast region remains shut down; as these facilities ramp back up, a further tumble of gas prices is expected, which could bring oil as low as around $80 per barrel over the next 30 to 45 days, which could be low enough to see US pump prices dip below $3.00 per gallon for the first time since early 2008.

In other words, things are looking up; however, in the long term they will only stay stable at these lower levels if offshore, shale and ANWAR remain on the table to increase US production in the near term, and the push toward fuel and energy alternatives remains at the forefront of US priorities.