The energy industry is taking a beating during the Covid-19 Crisis. Good news: oil prices are up - is an economic recovery next? Karr Ingham, Analyst for the Texas Alliance for Energy Producers, says things are looking better. "What we have seen is that the economy has reopened and that has taken energy demand with it. And that, in turn, has provided some pretty significant up-side support to crude oil prices." Earlier this year crude oil was priced in the $60s. He laughs and says, "Even though they are nowhere where they were in early 2020, I think any of us would take $40-something crude oil over $5-something crude oil which is what we saw in the worst of these circumstances."
Pumped Up: Oil, Gas Prices Start to Rebound
Ingham says it helps that gasoline use is rising - but not so much for diesel and jet fuel. He says with more people shopping, eating out and going back to work, more people are in their cars. "If we just look at our energy demand numbers, Gasoline has had the best demand recovery so far...and we're probably approaching about 95% of where we were before the pandemic." Gasoline sales are the lion's share of products made from crude oil.