Well, all I can say is let's enjoy it while we can. Who knows when OPEC will decide to turn down the taps. I bought gas for 79¢ a litre last week. That is about less than half of what I paid for it a couple of months ago.
WesternGuy
The word is, that OPEC is irrelevant. They're not players anymore. The Saudi's run the show now.
With all due respect, I disagree. The Saudi's are one of the larger components of OPEC, at least the last time I looked. In case you are interested, the founding members of OPEC consist of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. In 2014 OPEC comprised twelve members: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Together, they produce over 30 billion bbls of oil per day, with Saudi Arabia producing just under 1/3rd of that. Gabon and Indonesia were once members, but no longer belong to the organization.
You may be right in some respects that as the biggest producer within OPEC, the Saudis call the shots, but I do believe that if the others were adamant, then things might change. After all, a lot of these countries rely on oil over $100 US/bbl to maintain their standard of living. For example, Iran needs prices at about $139US a bbl just to balance its budget. Nigeria and Venezuela risk complete social and economic chaos at the roughly $60US that oil is selling for today. Venezuela's economy depends solely on the price it can get for its oil and the current levels is not what it had planned for - even at $100US, it could barely keep its economy going. Most of this "pricing issue" resolves around the increase in US oil production and the Saudis resolve to put the "frackers" out of business - fracking is where a lot of this increase in US production is coming from. It has been suggested that OPEC risks falling apart if the Saudis do not begin to listen to their members. Algeria has already called for an increase in the price by shutting down production, yet there has been no action by the Saudis, at least, that is obvious to the rest of the world. One can only speculate what would happen if OPEC falls apart - I don't even want to guess.
I trust this will clarify a few of the aspects of what is going on.
WesternGuy