Oil & gas prices on the rise again
Oil prices touched their highest levels in years Tuesday, a day after OPEC, Russia and their allies failed yet again to reach agreement on production increases. A teleconference planned for Monday never started, following meetings Thursday and Friday that did not reach a deal.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose as high as $76.98 a barrel earlier in the day, its highest in more than six years, before retreating.
The volatility reflected worry that the deadlock in OPEC Plus, the alliance of oil producers, means that too little oil would reach the markets at a time of growing consumption as the effects of the pandemic ease and summer travel booms.
The United Arab Emirates, which has invested in its oil capacity in recent years, is insisting on higher levels of production over objections from Saudi Arabia, a longtime ally, and other producers. Mediation efforts have so far not bridged the gap, and a new meeting has not been scheduled. The disarray in OPEC Plus raises the risk of a price war among producers, like the one in the spring of 2020, but some analysts think the group is more likely to figure out a way of gradually drip-feeding more oil into the market in the coming months, a move that would soften price jumps.
Also Monday, the website GasBuddy.com reported that gas prices in Chattanooga rose 1.8 cents per gallon in the past week to $2.84 a gallon — up 5.4 cents a gallon from a month ago and 92.4 cents a gallon from a year ago.
Chattanooga gas prices have risen 1.8 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.84 a gallon today, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 170 stations in Chattanooga. Gas prices in Chattanooga average 28 cents per gallon below the U.S. average.
“Gasoline demand over the holiday weekend certainly did not disappoint as millions of Americans flooded the roads for the long weekend, guzzling down gasoline at a clip not seen in years, and in the process, we could have set new alltime records for consumption,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “For now, with imbalances in supply and demand continuing, motorists will continue digging deeper to pay for gasoline as prices are likely headed nowhere but up until global supply starts to catch up with the continued surge in demand.”