My favorite part is the domestic oil production section, with particular emphasis on this statement:Gas prices still falling despite Middle East turmoil
Typically, strife in the Middle East means that the price of gas soars.
But even as the United States launched airstrikes against terrorists in Syria - with the help of some Arab states such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - the price at the pump continued to plummet.
In North Texas, some gas stations on Tuesday were selling a gallon of gas for under $3 a gallon. And nationwide, the national average as of Monday had dropped for 16 consecutive days to $3.34 per gallon, the lowest in seven months, according to AAA Daily Fuel Gage Report.
So what gives?
Analysts give a number of reasons for the falling prices: Lower crude oil prices because of the shale drilling boom in Texas and around the country; the seasonal switch to a cheaper winter blend at refineries; and falling demand for gasoline as the public stays home after summer vacations.
GasBuddy.com is predicting U.S. drivers can expect to see the cheapest gasoline for this time of year since 2010, when prices hit an average of $2.60 a gallon. By late Tuesday, its FortWorthGasPrices.com website was reporting a national average of $3.34, a Texas average of $3.14 and a Fort Worth average of $3.16.
Whatever the reasons, motorists are enjoying it.
"I like knowing I'm not spending as much on gas," said Joshua Wright, a 20-year-old Haltom High School grad who was pumping gas into his 1998 Ford Taurus at the QT on Denton Highway for $3.03 a gallon. "Every time I pump gas and 18 cents comes off, that feels good."
Larry Cole, a 70-year-old retired public housing official who lives in North Richland Hills who was a few pumps away, also had a smile on his face. Adding to his glee was that he recently traded in his BMW for a 2014 Kia Soul. The fancy car got 20 miles per gallon. This one, 32.
"I think it's great but I think it's going to go down more because we've got (increased) production and everything else," Cole said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see it below $3."
Bernard Weinstein, a Dallas energy economist at Southern Methodist University, would agree that increased oil production is one of the major reasons gas prices are being kicked down the road.
"The world is drowning in oil," said Weinstein, associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute. "We have ample global supply right now largely because of the huge increase in production in North America."
"Despite all the turmoil in the Middle East - their production is down but oil prices are stable - there is definitely a new world today," he said.
Western states posted the highest gas prices in the nation on Monday, with Washington and Oregon posting $3.76 a gallon and California $3.74, according to the AAA. In Texas on Tuesday, AAA was reporting an average price of $3.15 statewide and $3.16 in Fort Worth and Dallas.
A week ago, drivers were paying four cents more on average for a gallon of gas and nine cents more a year ago, said Doug Shupe, spokesman for AAA Texas/New Mexico. He said analysts expect the price to continue dropping through October, barring some other geopolitical event or a storm in the Gulf or the Atlantic shutting down a refinery, which would hinder production.
"We're not going back to $1.50 a gallon and free glasses, but we are looking at prices this autumn that are the lowest since autumn 2010," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for GasBuddy.com. in suburban New Jersey. "We're going to have lower lows and less altitude on the peaks."
Domestic production takes off
Exactly how we got here goes back a few years.
Gasoline prices are determined on the world price of crude oil. While the member nations of OPEC, many of them in the Mideast, still matter, analysts say the rising influence of U.S. energy production is creating a new paradigm in calculating the price of gasoline.
For example, after the Arab Spring and Libya fell in 2011, Libya was producing 1.2 million barrels of crude a day, Kloza said. The United States is now pumping out 8.8 million barrels each day, he said. At the time of the Arab Spring, domestic production was 5.6 million barrels a day.
"We've added the equivalent of three Libyas," since Muammar Gaddifi's ouster, mostly from booming oil fields like the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin in Texas, the Bakken in North Dakota and the Rockies, he said. "There is no continent with cheaper oil than the U.S."
Oil production is up 60 percent over the last three years, which is having so much impact on the world oil market that OPEC recently cut its production by 400,000 barrels a day to try and stabilize the price, Weinstein said.
"With a dust-up in the Middle East, you used to see a spike," Weinstein said, who also listed the production in the Canadian oil sands as a factor. "OPEC has kind of become irrelevant."
In New York on Tuesday, oil futures prices moved up a modest 69 cents to $91.56 a barrel.
A cheaper recipe
There are two other big factors helping to drive down the price of gas, the analysts said.
One is that in the fall refineries change the "recipe" for gasoline. The gas contains more liquid such as butane, which is cheaper to produce but too volatile to use during the hotter summer months, Kloza said.
Demand for oil also has flattened out in recent years. More fuel efficient cars and substituting natural gas for home heating and for fuel oil in industrial uses - as well as a less than booming economy - are key players in dropping Americans thirst for oil, Weinstein said.
"We are in that time of year when prices fall - summer driving season is over and the refineries go to the cheaper winter blend," Shupe said.
While James Fritz didn't know all the reasons for this manna from heaven, the South Dakota native was thrilled. In town for the 50th wedding anniversary of his in-laws, he said back home gas had been about $3.40 a gallon. So getting it for $3.03 in Haltom City was a joy.
"It's a lot easier on the wallet," Fritz said. "It's a good deal. I hope it continues."
Max B. Baker, 817-390-7714 Twitter: @MaxBBaker
"With a dust-up in the Middle East, you used to see a spike," Weinstein said, who also listed the production in the Canadian oil sands as a factor. "OPEC has kind of become irrelevant."