Oil Prices Will Stay Low for 2009

After a year in which oil prices fluctuated from record highs to the lowest prices in the last five years, a University of Alabama engineering professor predicts that oil prices will remain low during 2009, thanks of the struggling national economy.

“If the economy does not rebound quickly in 2009, oil prices should remain in the fifty dollar a barrel range, which will result in gasoline prices around a dollar and a half per gallon,” says Dr. Peter Clark, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at UA.

As in the past, OPEC influences supply and demand, and the price should remain low, assuming that OPEC does not dramatically reduce production.

The price could also change quickly if there is a significant supply disruption, such as a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.

“While we are not in immediate danger of running out of oil, production has a difficult time keeping up with demand in a good economy. A rational energy policy that emphasizes, conservation, alternative fuels, and domestic production will help to moderate the increase in the price of oil,” Clark says.