Oil Answers

An answer to what is going on with oil:

Our Finite World
Why “supply and demand” doesn’t work for oil
Posted on November 23, 2015
by Gail Tverberg
http://ourfiniteworld.com/2015/11/23/why-supply-and-demand-doesnt-work-for-oil/

... The traditional view of the impact of low oil prices seems to be, “It is just another cycle.” Or, “The cure for low prices is low prices.”

I am doubtful that either of these views is right. Falling prices have been a problem for a wide range of commodities since 2011 (Figure 2, above). The Wall Street Journal reported that as early as 2013, when oil prices were still above $100 per barrel, none of the world’s “super major” oil companies covered its dividends with cash flow.

Thus, if prices are to be sufficiently high that oil companies don’t need to keep going deeper into debt, a price of well over $100 per barrel is needed. We would need an oil price close to triple its current level. This would be a major challenge, especially if prices of other commodities also need to rise because production costs are higher than current prices...