North Dakota and Texas 'join OPEC'

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The good news for ocean carriers and airlines alike is that oil prices are dropping fast. Oil has shifted from scarcity to abundance and thus ended a four year period when a barrel of the black stuff held at around $100 or more.

Indeed, despite the turmoil in the Middle East and sanctions on Russia (the world’s second-biggest oil producer) that would normally spike prices the OPEC cartel of oil producing countries is so worried about the continued fall that it says it may need to consider cutting output when it meets next month, for the first time since the global recession.

In this Reuters article the background is explained of slowing demand and not least the phenomenal impact that US shale oil has had on the market, meaning that, in the words of one energy consultant: “North Dakota and Texas have effectively joined OPEC, though they may not have realised it yet.”