In much of the country, it’s still the hot, dog days of summer. But one thing that has cooled off are oil prices. It’s showing up in a slight dip in prices at the pump over the last several days.
Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, says prices started to rally again on Monday, but they’re still lower than they were at the start of the month.
“In terms of the sell-off, it’s been a combination of different factors: we’ve been talking about weak Asian demand, and those lockdowns over the last couple of months,” Smith told Texas Standard. “At the same time as that demand is getting crimped, you’ve got OPEC that is putting more supply back onto the market … and really, kind of the cherry on top is the fact that the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, is starting to ease back on the stimulus that it’s provided over the whole pandemic.”
What you’ll hear in this interview:
– How the delta variant of the coronavirus is affecting demand
– What gas prices may look like over the next few weeks
– What the production outlook is for the Texas oil industry over the next year
