Oil plunges to $30, Dallas Fed President Sucker-Punches any Leftover Oil Bulls

Jon Blogosphere, Economy, Energy, Fiscal Policies, Market Commentary

‘Even lower for even longer’ You’d expect at least some artificial optimism when the president of the Dallas Fed talks about oil. You’d expect some droplets of hope for that crucial industry in Texas. But when Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan spoke on Monday, there was none, not for 2016, and most likely not for 2017 either, and maybe not even for 2018.
The wide-ranging speech included a blunt section on oil, the dismal future of the price of oil, the global and US causes for its continued collapse, and what it might mean for the Texas oil industry: ‘more bankruptcies, mergers and restructurings….’
The oil price plunge since mid-2014, with its vicious ups and downs, was bad enough. But since the OPEC meeting in December, he said, ‘the overall tone in the oil and gas sector has soured, as expectations have decidedly shifted to an ‘even lower for even longer’ price outlook.’

This post was published at Wolf Street on January 12, 2016.