Price At The Pump: Ballance Continues To Hold Oil Prices In Place

Oil prices continue to hold steady, remaining in the mid-$60 per barrel range, where prices have been for a few months.

Patrick Dehaan with Gasbuddy.com said oil prices aren’t expected to move much higher in the coming weeks, thanks to demand moving lower. He added, thanks to OPEC’s production increase, and that lighter demand, he expects oil prices to move downward in the not-too-distant future. DeHaan said if that occurs, and a surplus of oil occurs globally, he expects the United States to decrease oil production.

"So long as oil prices remain low. We have seen the U.S. rig count start to decline," DeHaan said. "In fact, the rig count is now below maintenance levels, meaning that there is the potential that the lower rig count we are seeing today will translate in time to a drop in U.S. oil production. That is something that oil companies, will likely respond to the lower price of oil by cutting additional drilling.”

As of Tuesday morning, West Texas and Brent Crude were holding steady at $62 and $67 per barrel, respectively.

Northwest Fuel Prices Moving Lower

When it comes to fuel prices, DeHaan said the Northwest has seen some relief over recent weeks; following pipeline shutdowns, due to refinery maintenance and unexpected outages. But, now that both of those issues appear to be resolved, DeHaan noted that gasoline pries in Washington slipped nine cents per gallon int he past week.

“Diesel prices, well, they've started to ease a little bit as well, though not as much as gasoline," DeHaan said. "Diesel prices still in Washington state, averaging about $5.04. That's down about a penny in the last week. When it comes to gas prices, motorists need not be in any hurry to fill their tanks. I do expect that nine cent decline in average prices will continue for the next couple of weeks.”