LAUREN: RECESSION FEARS ARE
HAMMERING THE ENERGY MARKET AT
THIS HOUR.
OIL DOWN SHARPLY TODAY.
$100 A BARREL, UNDER THAT, IN
THE SESSION RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN
SEE IT’S AT 99.78, BRENT CRUDE,
RBOB, NAT GAS ALSO DOWN
SHARPLY AS PRESSURE AT THE PUMP
WHERE GAS PRICES ARE STILL
UNCOMFORTABLY HIGH CONTINUES TO
FUEL ANGER ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
TAKE A LOOK HERE YOU CAN SEE
THAT GAS PRICES ARE 4.80 A
GALLON FOR REGULAR UNLEADED
THAT’S $1.67 MORE THAN THIS TIME
LAST YEAR, BUT COULD THEY COME
DOWN AND FAST AS CRUDE OIL FROM
WHICH THEY ARE REFINED COMES
DOWN?
WELL CITIGROUP SAYS YEAH, OIL
COULD HIT $65 A BARREL BY THE
END OF THE YEAR, AND THEN $
45 BY THE END OF 2023?
THAT IS DRASTIC, AND IT FEELS
LIKE WHIPLASH.
WE BRING IN A FOX BUSINESS
EXCLUSIVE GASBUDDY PETROLEUM
ANALYSIS HEAD PATRICK DAHAAN.
$45 NEXT YEAR WHAT DO YOU MAKE
OF THESE PREDICTIONS?
>> THERE’S CERTAINLY A LOT OF
THE PREDICTIONS ON VARIOUS ENDS
OF THE SPECTRUM AND I GUESS
BULLS ARE CONCEIVABLY POSSIBLE
BUT DEPENDING ON HOW THINGS
UNFOLD WE COULD SEE ONE END OF
THE SPECTRUM MORESO THAN THE
OTHER SO WE’RE NOT OUT OF
THE WOODS.
WE DID SEE AS YOU MENTIONED
PLUMMET TO 9% TODAY, BUT I
ALMOST THINK WE MOVE FROM AN
OVERBOUGHT MARKET TO AN OVER
SOLD MARKET.
KEEP IN MIND, WE STILL HAVE SOME
OF THE FUMS STICKING ON HERE,
NOT ONLY THAT BUT AN ACTIVE
HURRICANE SEASON COULD CAUSE
PRICES REVERSE, BUT FOR NOW
MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF LIGHT AT
THE END OF THE TUNNEL, THE
NATIONAL AVERAGE DOWN $0.25
A GALLON FROM ITS PEAK CAUSING
AMERICANS TO SPEND ABOUT
$100 MILLION LESS ON GASOLINE
EVERYDAY, SO FAR.
LAUREN: SO DO YOU THINK IN THE
NEAR TERM PEOPLE COMPLAIN
AND THIS IS TRUE, IT’S TRUE
HISTORICALLY, GAS PRICES FOLLOW
CRUDE OIL PRICES HIGHER, A LOT
FASTER THAN THEY FOLLOWED THEM
LOWER.
DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE AT LEAST
TEMPORARY RELIEF AT THE GAS PUMP
>> I DO THINK THAT STATIONS
WILL PASS THIS ALONG.
NOW KEEP IN MIND THAT MAYBE FOR
EVERY FOUR DAYS, THREE OF
THEM THIS YEAR HAS SEEN A TREND
UPWARD AT THE PUMP AND THAT’S
WHAT SETS STATIONS BEHIND AND
THAT’S WHY THEY ALSO KIND OF
DRAG THEIR FEET SO TO SPEAK A
LITTLE BIT AND PRICES DO GO DOWN
BECAUSE THIS YEAR HAS NOT BEEN A
GREAT YEAR.
PRICES TRENDED UP MOST OF THE
TIME AND NOW STATIONS ARE
TRYING TO RECOUP A LOT OF LOSSES
, SO PRICES WILL MOVE DOWN
, BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME, IF
TODAY’S LOSSES HOLD I THINK THE
NATIONAL AVERAGE COULD FALL
40 TO AS MUCH AS $0.65 OVER THE
NEXT FEW WEEKS BUT THAT’S
THE BIGGEST QUESTIONS IS WILL
THE PRICES HOLD OR RALLY AGAIN.
LAUREN: NO ONE KNOWS, BUT WE DO
KNOW THAT THE PRESIDENT, JOE
BIDEN, ORDERED GAS STATION OWNER
S TO CUT PRICES THAT
AMERICANS ARE PAYING TO FILL UP,
AND JEFF BEZOS, THE OWNER OF THE
WASHINGTON POST, THE FOUNDER
OF AMAZON, ONE OF THE RICHEST
MEN IN THE WORLD TWEETS THIS.
OUCH, INFLATION IS FAR TOO
IMPORTANT A PROBLEM FOR THE
WHITE HOUSE TO KEEP
MAKING STATEMENTS LIKE THIS.
IT’S EITHER STRAIGHT AHEAD MISS
DIRECTION OR A DEEP
MISUNDERSTANDING OF BASIC MARKET
DYNAMICS.
PATRICK, YOU KNOW THIS BUSINESS.
DO YOU THINK THE WHITE HOUSE
UNDERSTANDS WHAT’S GOING ON?
>> I THINK MR. BEZOS HAS A
POINT.
THE WHITE HOUSE IS GIVING
CONFLICTING STATEMENTS, KIND OF
THROWING STATIONS UNDER THE BUS,
THROWING REFINERS UNDER THE BUS,
THROWING OIL COMPANIES UNDER THE
BUS, BASICALLY THROWING
ANYONE HE CAN UNDER THE BUS
ASIDE FROM SAYING LOOK THIS IS
THE SITUATION WE’RE IN.
A LOT OF THIS IS BORNE OUT OF
THE FACT THAT COVID CAUSED
REFINERIES TO SHUTDOWN, COVID
BECAUSED DEMAND TO PLUMMET BUT I
DO THINK THERE IS A POINT TO ALL
OF THE SCAPE GOATS THE
PRESIDENT IS TRYING TO POINT
OUT IT’S JUST A COMBINATION OF
OIL COMPANIES ARE RAISING
PRODUCTION BUT KEEP IN MIND THE
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS NOT
MADE IT EASY FOR OIL COMPANIES
TO RETURN TO A PERIOD OF GROWTH.
THAT’S FAIRLY OBVIOUS.
LAUREN: OR TO GIVE THEM SOME
SORT OF COMMITMENT THAT THE
RETURN ON THEIR INVESTMENTS
WILL BE WORTHWHILE IN THE FUTURE
, EVEN THE NEAR FUTURE
, BECAUSE THEY STILL HAVE
A GREEN AGENDA AND THAT DOES NOT
INCLUDE FOSSIL FUELS.
>> EXACTLY RIGHT.
THE CLOUDS OF UNCERTAIN ARE
POTENTIALLY HOLDING BACK OIL
COMPANIES FROM INVESTING BILLION
S OF DOLLARS.
IT’S NOT A GOOD INVESTMENT TO
INVEST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS UNDER
A WHITE HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
THAT’S GOING AFTER YOU AT EVERY
TURN IT GETS.