Oil Prices Plunge to Below $70 per Barrel

Image: Svadilfari

But what about gas prices? Today the NYTimes reports that oil prices have fallen below the $70 mark for the first time in 16 months. With the markets spiraling downwards, I doubt that many people have looked at the price of oil recently, but it has been on a steady slide since it reached its peak of $145 this summer.

I’m sure most of you remember watching oil prices carefully at the time, what with gas prices soaring to over $4/gallon nationwide and many people cutting back on driving or learning how to ecodrive. However, what you might not be noticing is a fall in the price of gasoline that corresponds to the radical decrease in the price of crude. Oil has fallen because consumption looks to be lower in the future due to the current crisis and possibility of economic recession.

While the Times talks about how these rapid swings in crude oil prices could destabilize the world energy markets, what they do not talk about is how these lower oil prices will affect consumers at the pump. I’m not a fan of cheap gas from an environmentalist perspective, but it’s hard not to notice that the price of gas in my area has only dropped about 50 cents (~13%) in the same period that the price of crude oil has dropped more than %50.

Is this more evidence of price gouging or do you think something bigger is going on? If so, what? Let’s here what you think in the comments.

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