Who's Ready to Party Like It's 2008?

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Break out the champagne and 7-liter engines. Have one on us, alright?

The Wall Street Journal and Reuters are reporting that despite a mild increase in crude, oil is hovering around $40 a barrel and it’s expected to further dip in coming months to a six-year low on a global glut of oil.

The national average for a gallon of gas could drop to as low as $2, Green Car Reports says, which would be the cheapest its been since January, and could approach historical lows from 2008.

Brent crude (light, sweet oil that serves as a trading standard) dropped on worries that a slumping Chinese economy would further slide and European uncertainty about Greek’s flailing economy.

American crude reserves will likely increase in the short-term as refineries prepare for off-season maintenance, which would reduce demand for crude and drive prices down further.

In crude’s corner, worries about hurricane season — and that’s about it — kept the bottom from falling out.

Although stone-cold cheap gas seems like a good deal for drivers, it may not be the best for the economy and energy-sector jobs. This year, the Wall Street Journal excellently reported how super-cheap gas wasn’t exactly great in the 1980s either.


Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Hummer Hummer on Aug 22, 2015

    Looky what I just found, Californians aren't paying enough for fuel apparently. http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28668277/senate-panel-votes-raise-californias-gas-tax-12

    • See 8 previous
    • JD23 JD23 on Aug 23, 2015

      @smartascii "A 120 degree difference (yes, I’m using Fahrenheit because it looks more impressive and also because those are the units of FREEDOM) in the Upper Midwest.." He was referring to California, not to wherever you were thinking. Your point is lost.

  • Reclusive_in_nature Reclusive_in_nature on Aug 22, 2015

    If fuel costs remain this low for too long consumers will start purchasing vehicles they actually want instead of need. This can't stand! Tax, tax, TAX them until the pleebs do what we think is best for them.

  • Ihatetrees Ihatetrees on Aug 22, 2015

    As I've said before, medium term (3+ years) low oil prices are going to upset the CAFE apple cart here in the US. There's no way the 'domestics' will pass up the huge profits on trucks/SUVs to comply with the Future Fantasy MPG numbers. Short of a GOP landslide in 2016, the adjustment politics will be fugly.

  • Phippsj Phippsj on Aug 24, 2015

    As for me and my 14 mpg Toyota Land Cruiser DD, we are very happy.

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