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Thursday, November 6, 2008

Recession = Cheap(er) Gasoline

posted by on November 6 at 16:38 PM

Good news if you drive a lot; bad news if you’re in retail:

Oil prices neared $60 a barrel Thursday, their lowest point in about a year and a half, as a growing number of economic reports point to a long and painful recession.

The number of Americans continuing to draw unemployment benefits surged to a 25-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, and the nation’s retailers saw their sales plummet last month to the weakest October level since at least 1969.

When the economy slows, the demand for energy fades. One side effect: the price of gasoline has tumbled from summer highs, when a gallon cost more than $4. Experts say gasoline could cost half that by year’s end.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 7 percent, or $4.53, to settle at $60.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices tumbled as low as $60.16 at one point, a level last seen in March 2007.

Oil prices have now fallen nearly 60 percent since peaking at $147.27 a barrel in mid-July. They surged above $70 Tuesday, but a crude sell-off began the following day when prices dipped 7.4 percent.

Congratulations to anyone who can still afford to drive a car.

Via Forbes.

RSS icon Comments

1

Up here in Alaska 90% of the state's income is from oil, so $60 a barrel really kills us. But at least our beloved governor has returned.

Posted by Alaska Trav | November 6, 2008 4:40 PM
2

I have to either stop eating out every night or stop drinking. Um. I haven't figured that one out yet. But damn I'm glad I don't drive.

Posted by Mr. Poe | November 6, 2008 4:44 PM
3

There is only one reason gas is cheaper: Those people who were praying at the pumps.

Posted by DP | November 6, 2008 4:58 PM
4

i may just pull the Explorer out of storage! good times!

Posted by max solomon | November 6, 2008 5:03 PM
5

You can profit off this. Lord knows I am.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | November 6, 2008 5:03 PM
6

Poe Dear, don't give up drinking. Get yourself some Campell's soup or Kraft Macaronni and Cheese dinners. They're easy to make, even if you have to have things like milk around. (Remember to sniff the milk before adding it to anything. It can go bad after a few months)

Just be sure to turn the stove OFF when you are done cooking! And it's probably better to have an electric stove, rather than gas.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay | November 6, 2008 5:06 PM
7

Demand destruction happens quick in this society, no? OPEC's panicking, reducing production to try to lower supplies and get the prices up a little more. Retailers, well, um, ouchouchouch.

Posted by tomasyalba | November 6, 2008 5:07 PM
8

On the plus side, I might actually be able to afford to heat my house this winter. Which is nice.

Posted by flamingbanjo | November 6, 2008 5:09 PM
9

I share a kitchen with two people. If I cook something, I'd have to clean. Gross.

Posted by Mr. Poe | November 6, 2008 5:15 PM
10

The problem with retail is that in the last 10 years it all got designed for upper income real estate agents and stock brokers and their well fed 14 year old spawn.

Meanwhile, financial natural selection has come to town. That means more Ross and less Forever 21 and H&M.

Posted by John Bailo | November 6, 2008 5:33 PM
11

You're an idiot, john Bailo. The most successful retailer in the last 10 years is Wal-mart, and H&M is an ultra-cheap discount retailer as well, just with a little style added.

Posted by Fnarf | November 6, 2008 6:01 PM
12

Yeah, I guess all those Pray at the Pump folks didn't realize it was a Monkey's Paw-type deal—as in, okay, gas prices can fall, but the entire economy's coming with it.

Posted by shub-negrorath | November 6, 2008 6:14 PM
13

Well, Mr. Poe, maybe you could get yourself one of those Microwave ovens they always have at the Fred Meyer. They say there's lots of dandy things you can put in your microwave and that it cooks really fast. And when you're done eating, you can just throw the container away. But then you have to remember to take out the trash.

Just promise me you won't quit drinking.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay | November 6, 2008 6:33 PM
14

I can't afford to not drive my car. It's how I get to work, at my job which doesn't pay enough to live somewhere with actual transit.

Posted by wench | November 6, 2008 7:32 PM
15


Playing off one of your posts, I added a story to my Agraria superstruct describing their fears about rail and other conduits:

http://superstructgame.org/StoryView/808

Posted by John Bailo | November 7, 2008 12:33 AM
16

Damn your gas is cheap, even at $4 a gallon.

Posted by ams | November 7, 2008 2:13 AM
17

Cheaper gas also helps truck drivers...who make their living delivering stuff like, pretty much everything, to us the consumers...which affects the costs of groceries and such. I think. Maybe.

Oh, and it helps me fill up my 76 AMC Pacer too!

Posted by Sally Struthers Lawnchair | November 7, 2008 8:14 AM
18

Hopefully these prices will help Metro make up some budget shortfalls.

Posted by Sir Learnsalot | November 7, 2008 8:22 AM

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