Oil futures for the July contract moved past $49 a barrel on Monday after prices fell 36 cents before the opening trade of 48.15. These prices come after 3 month lows last week as the June contract closed out well below $47 a barrel.
Light sweet crude moved at $49.05 in midday trading and Brent North Sea crude climbed 30 cents $48.31 this morning. Gasoline was trading at $1.40 a gallon and heating oil was $1.37.
Gas prices, nationwide continue to drop very slowly. Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg report told CBS that gasoline prices are down an average of 15 cents a gallon.
“Most crude oil supplies and gasoline supplies are up, since the all-time record price for gasoline,” Lundberg said in the CBS interview. “Gasoline prices have fallen about 14 cents per gallon. That’s about the same amount that crude oil prices are down.”
GasPriceWatch.com reports the cheapest gas in the country right now is in Grayson in northeastern Kentucky at $1.77 a gallon San Diego at $2.79 a gallon. These prices have dropped off the highs of a few weeks ago as the averages were $2.20 and up and some places, like San Francisco easily cracked $3.00 a gallon for regular, unleaded gasoline.
This information comes as OPEC continues to pump at their highest levels in 25 years, averaging 30.5 million bpd with Saudi Arabia producing most of that. OPEC has constantly reassured investors they are and will be up to the task of maintaining or increasing production levels and capacity in the coming months so the fourth quarter will be well supplied.
”I stand here to tell you that Saudi Arabian reserves are plentiful, and we stand ready to raise output as the market dictates,” Naimi said at an energy confidence in Washington last Tuesday.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
