MIDLAND, Texas — OPEC has announced that they are trimming back oil production by 100,000 barrels a day.
The announcement came out of left field for the industry, catching many in it off guard.
However, there are those in the oil and gas industry that see this as a natural reaction from OPEC in response to an everchanging market.
The Permian Basin Petroleum Association wasn’t surprised by the decision.
“Things right now aren't very normal," said Stephen Robertson, Executive Vice President of the PBPA. "And so I don't think that necessarily the way to look at it is, is this a normal reaction by OPEC? Specifically the decision to ramp up by hundred thousand then ramp back down by hundred thousand. It's more that they, just like so many people around the world, are paying very very close attention to what the markets are doing, where they're going, and trying to make adjustments for their benefit.”
For the average person though, the question on their mind is whether this new direction taken by OPEC will impact gas prices here at home. The PBPA gave their two cents on the matter.
“Probably not at all in the United States," said Robertson. "One thing that I think a lot of people in the United States are paying attention to, but not everybody is, is the fact that what we pay for gasoline here, compared to what folks around the world pay, in particular in Europe, is incredibly different. Europe is a much closer trading partner with the Middle East when it comes to certain supplies of crude oil, and so that might be where an impact has been felt more directly than in the United States.”
Our domestic production and less of a reliance on foreign supplies of crude oil has helped offset any chance of there being some sort of impact felt here at home.