In the early years of the oil industry, prices moved sharply with the discovery of a new, large oil field or the sudden decline of an existing producer. Producers were like farmers, prey to things happening beyond their control and outside of their knowledge. Efforts to control the price (Standard Oil, Texas Railroad Commission, Achnacarry Agreement, and oil import quotas in the U.S.) enabled the industry, or at least the domestic part of it, to take prices as given. Most famously, when the Shultz Commission considered lifting oil import quotas in 1970, it assumed that prices would tend to decline, based on historical experience.
Keep reading at Forbes.
Is a policy analyst consultant for TCAP, a coalition of political subdivisions in Texas that purchase electricity in the deregulated market for their own governmental use. Because energy costs are typically a significant budget item to our members, TCAP is consistently looking for ways to save our members money, through cost-saving contracts, energy efficiency or demand response programs.