COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Just like many other services and jobs undergoing this winter storm, oil production has paused or decreased significantly.
“Now they’re saying, oil could go to $190 a barrel by 2025. What does that mean as a gasoline user? Not good,” said King Operating CEO Jay R. Young.
When the pandemic started more than a year ago, the demand for oil also decreased, causing West Texas to produce less.
“We’re squeaking out every barrel of oil we can in the United States, and we’re still going down. Look at your US oil production, look at the rig count. Everything is coming down. Now you got 600 or 700 thousand coming out of the Permian, and normally there’s 4 or 5 million,” said Young.
Young said the oil shortage we are currently having is going to continue into the next three to six months and maybe even longer. Without the ability to drill enough oil to meet the demand of gasoline consumers, the United States will have to import it.
“The supply and demand, we’re gonna need it. It’s not a question of okay we won’t use it. No, that’s not going to happen, we need it. We need oil and we’re not going to have it in the united states and when we don’t have it in the United States, we’re going to have to go to Putin. We’re not gonna get it at a discount. He’s gonna charge us for it. It’s gonna be ugly,” said young.
Demand for oil will continue to grow with more people getting vaccinated and leaving their homes. Young said the price for oil can go up to 3 or 4 dollars a gallon by the end of the year.
“I'd move it closer to town, closer to that gas pump. You don’t want to drive 30 40 minutes commute every day, you don’t want to pay for it," said Young.
He added that it’s going to be an expensive next couple of years as the supply of oil in the United States continues to decrease.