After moving lower in much of September, oil prices have turned things around, and are now trending higher.  In early trade Tuesday, the price for West Texas Crude was trading around $84 per barrel.  And with that increase in oil prices, fuel prices have increased substantially over the past couple of weeks.  Dan Pickering, CEO of Pickering Energy told CNBC Monday consumers may have enjoyed oil and fuel prices dropping throughout the summer, but it looks like that trend is over for the time being.

 

“Despite what people wish, we’re going to see some pretty sticky energy inflation as we move forward over the next couple of years.  OPEC’s supporting price, we haven’t done anything to add meaningful supply, so any improvement in the demand side of the picture is likely to really strengthen prices, then you’re back in the soup with high gasoline prices here in the States and internationally.”

 

It’s not just in the United States where consumers are feeling the pinch.  Motorists in some counties have rioted, as governments have scaled back how much they subsidize fuel prices.

 

“I think what it tells you is that we’re going to have this push/pull between price and demand for the foreseeable future and until we see some meaningful demand contraction, you’re likely to see fairly high prices.”

 

Pickering added many counties will also need to address the question of energy prices and inflation with winter fast approaching for the Northern Hemisphere.

 

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com 

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