Consumers are expected to have a great month at the pump, according to Colorado Public Radio. That’s because gas prices are expected to keep falling in January. A report released Wednesday showed a sharp increase in gasoline inventories. Early this year companies added another eleven million barrels of gasoline. That created the biggest surge in supply since 1993.
Fears have arisen now that supplies will far outstrip demand for a long time. And that’s causing prices to plummet. The nervous market concerns have sent global oil prices to their lowest levels in years.
U.S. crude oil futures have fallen to $34 a barrel. As recently as 2014, oil was selling for $115 a barrel. But U.S. producers flooded the market with shale oil. To hold its market share, Saudi Arabia matched the U.S.’s market additions. And gas consumers benefitted from the market glut.