Gas prices inch down, but for how long?
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Gas prices inch down, but for how long?
David Brancaccio: They always seem to come down slower than they went up, but gasoline prices are beginning to ease.
And Marketplace’s Washington bureau chief John Dimsdale reports there could be more relief in sight.
John Dimsdale: Gasoline futures are a good predictor of where pump prices are headed. They’ve been falling for a month and are down more than 6 percent from their high for the year.
Money managers at hedge funds and pension funds are betting gasoline prices will drop in coming months. That’s because of lower demand, in part due to a slowing economy, and partly to more efficient cars on the road.
And, Manouchehr Takin at the Centre for Global Energy Studies in London says there will soon be more supply of oil.
Manouchehr Takin: Saudi oil minister, two or three weeks ago announced Saudi Arabia would charter eleven super tankers, very large crude carriers and send oil to the United States. So that will be two million barrels each, eleven tankers arriving in the coming weeks into the U.S.
The calendar, tho, is working against a sustained drop in gas prices. Those long drives for summer vacations always heat up demand.
In Washington, I’m John Dimsdale for Marketplace.
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