The price of a barrel of oil is going to crash, and hard.  The only question now is, when?  The new process to get oil from shale in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah will begin to pay dividends, as soon as Congress opens the area up for exploration.  The reserves are at a minimum triple what lies beneath Saudi Arabia. 

Add to that the large reserves yet to be tapped in Alaska, and The Gulf of Mexico, and a pattern begins to emerge.  We're much closer to energy independence than we thought just twenty years ago.

All of this oil won't stay  in the ground forever.  Eventually prices will rise so high that Congress will be forced to act, and the oil will be tapped.  The challenge this time around is to stay on track, and get the oil out.  As soon as exploration is even authorized, prices will go down.  If they go down enough, and new sources appear to be on a fast track to exploration, the oil exporting nations will increase production.  This will be done in an attempt to stall the progress, and keep control in the hands of OPEC. 

While many would like to stop this for environmental reasons (which are all but disappearing in Colorado with the new technology) the people will eventually demand lower prices.  While oil rigs in Alaska, and Colorado may be ugly, poverty is even uglier. 

How far will the price of oil fall?  Initially I think the crash will be speculative, much like the rise was.  So you should probably see a leveling off at sixty or seventy dollars per barrel.  If exploration and new technology are allowed to proceed, the end result will be prices below thirty, and possible twenty dollars per barrel.

But wait, there's more good news. 
When this happens, the biofuel subsidies will no longer be viable, and the price of food will fall.  While many are predicting the next Great Depression, we are likely to see a release of pent up demand, coupled with falling energy prices that should make the nineties look like bad times. The lower cost of oil trickles through every aspect of the economy. 

The last time consumer confidence was so low, was in the early 1980s. You may recall that we then enjoyed a huge and prolonged economic expansion.  Well hold on to your hats.  When Congress finally opens up the oil spigot, the world economy will grow faster than it ever has.  It may even be enough to offset the coming fiscal crunch caused by baby boomers collecting social security and health benefits in rapidly swelling numbers.


Nothing stops progress forever.

The only question left is, "How long will they make us wait?"

Now get to u4prez.com, start your virtual campaign for president, and start making it happen!