Three summers back, oil was king and Louisiana reaped its benefits.
Black gold sold at $105 a barrel on average in June 2014 and crested higher some days that July, the USA Today Network of Louisiana reports.
That was then. On Friday, West Texas Intermediate prices straggled in the $44 range, up from a low of $26 a barrel in early 2016 but nowhere near its 2014 zenith.
Seers who expected crude prices to push up to $55 or even $60 a barrel this year are left to wonder what’s next.
And a U.S. Energy Information Agency report issued Friday notes the energy component in Standard and Poor’s Goldman Sachs Commodity Index fell 11% for the first six months of 2017.
“Right now, it’s the most fascinating industry in the world to be in,” says Don Briggs, Louisiana Oil & Gas Association president. “But it’s difficult for anyone to understand where this will play out.”
