re: Oil approaching $60

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where is nancy Pelosi and her investigation of the collusion of big oil

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I remember when that Leftist pig Maxine Waters let it slip out during a hearing several years ago that some of them are warm to the idea of nationalizing the oil & gas industry.

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Global economics is not my forte, is there a point at which the low price of oil could have a seriously negative impact on our economy?

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If you mean by our economy, Louisiana's economy than yes.

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is there a point at which the low price of oil could have a seriously negative impact on our economy? Or would the low price have to be sustained for that to happen?

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I paid $2.27 a gallon this morning.

I would think, if this is sustained, this may slightly, ever so slightly, help tip the scales back towards the poor and middle class. Oil prices effect them more than the wealthy, and the wealthy tend to be more invested (or work with) oil and gas.

Think of it this way. My wife and I probably burn 15 gallons a week of gas. Gas prices have dropped pretty much a buck. That's $15 dollars a week I'm saving on gas, which is $60 per month. Not a lot... but to a person on a very low wage, that can be considerable. That's additional spending that a family can use other places.

Add to that, if this sticks, electric prices may come down to the extend we have oil-fired electric generation, transportation costs come down which may result in price decreases in consumer goods, etc.

But make no mistake, there are winners and losers.

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Global economics is not my forte, is there a point at which the low price of oil could have a seriously negative impact on our economy? Or would the low price have to be sustained for that to happen? I travel by car for the holidays, so this is great news for me and may actually impact my holiday spending.

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Already starting to happen. Drilling rigs are being laid down and job cuts already underway. Also companies are already cutting back on spending. More to come.
The negative impact may not be felt yet but it is just around the corner.

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I doubt that. All it takes is talk of a war in the Middle East for the price to jump back up and I don't think that the Arabs have been getting along as of lately. Oil will come back up in time.

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I disagree. Obviously crude prices will have upward pressure as a result of middle east conflicts, but the effects of any outbreaks in the region have become increasingly muted due to North America becoming increasingly energy independent. From the recession until this Thanksgiving, WTI was range bound between $80 and $100. Plenty of stuff happened in or around OPEC countries over that time frame.

I read 2 months ago that OPEC was trying to bankrupt the shale oil producers by making it unprofitable and thus sending them into bankruptcy.

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Global economics is not my forte, is there a point at which the low price of oil could have a seriously negative impact on our economy?

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When it becomes cost prohibitive for the oil companies to cut back on drilling they will have to lay these people off. It's happening right now in Texas and just outside of OKC. Some say it's a Saudi squeeze for the US fracking industry.

I work in the drilling side of the oil field. We are actually hiring and business hasn't slowed down. Now, I don't pretend to know the future. But that is what's going on where I work.

This is a good thing for most of the US Economy (excluding Oil and Gas Companies) because it give more disposable income and can lower operating costs of other companies. It is also a huge win for the US globally as our O&G companies can be profitable at a much lower price for barrel of crude than the rest of the world. It will really hurt Russia which needs about an $80 a barrel of crude to stay profitable. Also Russia's economy is heavily dependent of exporting energy. It is also good because it will start to break up OPECs power as there is a surplus of oil on the market so they cannot artificial inflate the price.

However, this is not great for Louisiana as it will hurt the bigger Oil Companies and states that are dependent on Oil (Louisiana). Also there is an inflection point at about $50 dollars a barrel where we really would start hurting because the oil companies cannot turn a profit in the US, this means the surplus of oil will shrink, OPEC will regain power and can start setting prices points again.

I think I would personally like to see it stay around $75 dollars, it squeezes Russia out and put enough Pressure on OPEC to work with us and not just hang us out to dry.

Also, some also believe that US Anti-Fracking movement is being heavily funded be Russia in order bring the price back up.

That's because the big producers are hedged at higher prices for another year or so. If this drags out half that long you'll be stacking rigs.

This is definitely a shot at the shale boom in the US as well as Iran and Russia in order to keep market share for the Saudis. They have a lot of reasons to do this.

With ISIS now becoming a serious threat to the region the Saudis need to make sure they are still important enough for us to come save them if they need it. If we become energy independent, we could tell them to kiss our asses and watch ISIS roll up and take Mecca and behead the royals. US energy independence is the death of them and they aren't going to allow it if they can help it.

They are concerned that Iran is about to have sanctions lifted or adjusted to allow them to sell more of their oil. The Russians are poised to do the same. Neither of those is good for the Saudis. They're doing a preemptive strike. They're also tired of all the other OPEC members not having to lower their production and it all landing on the Saudis every time there's an adjustment to be made.

The Saudis believe they can shut down Texas if they can keep the price low enough for long enough. Problem is that while the shale boom has been happening, we've been getting much more efficient at it. Fracking methods are cheaper because of the growth in the market and the methods used. The more we frac, the more we learn, the better we get at it, the cheaper it gets.

The big players know this and that's why you saw such huge buys last year like Encana buying into the Permian Basin to the tune of like $8 billion or so. They aren't going to just sit on that and wait forever. So while the Saudis will definitely be able to dirt nap the smaller players who need oil above $70 a barrel to keep drilling, they are a long ways out from putting a hurting on the bigger ones.

All while the Russians and the Iranians bond over hating the US and the Saudis who are making sure they stay under our umbrella of protection while they frick us.