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We may face another OPEC petroleum cut in another month when the Oil Producing Exporting Countries have a meeting scheduled in Algiers for December 15.
Gasoline prices have been on the rise again, but gently this time, at least so far. If the meeting of OPEC in December does lead to more production cuts, the prices may begin to rise again at a rapid pace. It is thought that the cut this time will be somewhere in between 500,000 and 1,000,000 barrels a day. We will not know the full effects of this second production cut for at least 4 to 6 weeks after it has gone into effect.
Right now the prices of gasoline in the US has dropped from $3.00 a gallon in August to a low of $2.24 per gallon this week. The gas price at the pumps is a few cents higher than it was a week or two ago, but we can live with the hike of a few pennies.
Most people don't even notice it when they fill their tanks. The talk of another possible OPEC cut is making people nervous, but right now our gas supplies are in surplus and the winter season has been mild so oil heating fuel is not in as much demand as it would be if the weather were very cold.
If we were having an unseasonably cold winter season it would drive the demand and the price of oil products up. Since it has not been one, we will see people traveling more for the Thanksgiving Holiday, and spending more for the December Holidays.
As for OPEC there are no guarantees they will cut the oil production again because in the past when they have said they were going to make cuts they did not follow through with their plans. So we should enjoy the mild weather and the low gas prices while we can and finish up our holiday shopping before mid December when we will hear what OPEC has decided to do.