Exactly a month ago, well a month and a day, a new convenience store opened here in town. It is on my route to and from work, so it is very convenient indeed. When the store opened the price on gasoline was $2.89 per gallon. In just 32 days the price has dropped $0.70 or almost 25%. Over the last year, it has fallen about an additional $1.00 per gallon, making the current price pretty close to just half of what it was last year.
Now I know that the hard work of frackers does not account for all of the price drop in oil and gasoline. There are many additional factors that affect it such as reduced global demand. However, since Obama, who famously said we could not drill ourselves to lower gasoline prices, has been president we have increased our oil production by ~60% and are now the largest producer of oil in the world (natural gas as well). Had this extra supply not have been produced, despite the actions of the federal government, it is unlikely that our production would have grown so rapidly and prices would not have dropped so much. Imagine what production might now look like if the federal government had not been standing in the way.
Frackers, along with all the other innovative energy producers, deserve a huge thank you for developing the technology that is currently saving the average family hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year in energy related costs. Their perseverance in the face of nearly overwhelming government opposition is truly heroic.
Thank you frackers!
Sadly, if gasoline prices stay about the same for the year the amount I will save on gasoline will only just about offset the “individual shared responsibility payment” (great euphemism for a penalty don’t you think?) on my taxes.