There had been a tiny glimmer of hope that oil prices were starting to rebound from their record low prices. That glimmer of hope has faded in the recent months as it has been reported that the price of oil has reached a three month low. However, forecasters say conditions are right for a price turnaround in the near future.

The current price of oil is just over $40 per barrel. This price is not incentive enough to warrant companies to expand exploration at this time. Since a lot of the Louisiana economy is based on oil prices this could mean a slower recovery from the recent decline.

When will the prices start climbing and jobs start returning? Tulane Energy Institute Associate Director Ed Smith says that simple rules of supply and demand are really magnified in this tight oil market.

There are countries going offline in the Middle East, and that raises the prices. Then somebody increases production in the shale, and that drops the prices.

Many investors are also very skittish about how the overabundant supply of gasoline is affected by any new drilling announcements.

Every time one of those rigs comes online that is a signal for some trader somewhere to sell oil because he thinks it’s going to be too much for him.

Smith's comments to the Louisiana Radio Network were not as bleak as you might think. He did say that he felt a return to $60 per barrel oil was in the future.

The leading indicators are pointing in the right direction, but that still doesn’t say that you won’t see these swings in the oil price.

Veterans in the oil patch understand the roller coaster ride that is the oil business. What goes down will eventually rise again. That means that the prices and the jobs will be returning to our state. Let's just hope all of our oil families can hold on until that happens.

 

 

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