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As Americans rush to begin their holiday shopping they have been given an added Christmas boast; rapidly plunging oil prices, and with it low gas prices.

For decades the American consumer has been at the mercy of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as they would manipulate and control the amount of oil that is produced thus affecting energy prices, which are determined by global supply and demand.

In recent years the rapid acceleration of economies of India, China and other nations increased the demand for oil and with it the fast rise in oil prices. With world demand increasing the price of gasoline in the U.S. escalated.

Then things began to change. The New York Times reported, for decades, the United States faced dwindling domestic production and rising demand, leading President George W. Bush to call on the country to get off its “addiction” to imported oil. But around eight years ago a few small oil companies began experimenting to produce oil from hard shale rocks in North Dakota and Texas, using hydraulic fracturing — fracking — and horizontal drilling techniques that proved effective in producing natural gas a few years earlier.

More domestic energy production has come on line, which coincided with the slowing economies of India and especially China.  The United States is slowly increasing its energy output every year, and importing less and less from other countries, especially from OPEC members. This also means less oil from the volatile Middle East.

The Times continued to report imports from OPEC producers have been cut by more than a half in recent years, forcing increasing competition among Saudi Arabia and other exporting countries seeking to replace the American market with Chinese and other Asian markets. That has produced more cracks in an organization in which competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran is already fierce.

An internal struggle among OPEC members has been contentious with Saudi Arabia refusing at this time to reduce oil production.  Two OPEC nations, Venezuela and Algeria have been pressuring Saudi Arabia to reduce oil production and raise prices, but so far the kingdom as refused.  While the kingdom produces one-third of OPEC’s output it will make a decision on what’s best for Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom is in a fierce strategic competition with Iran, and low oil prices dramatically has an affect on Iran’s economy when it least can afford it.  Plus other OPEC nations are in desperate need of hard currency for their inefficient economies, and will continue to maintain oil production.

In the United States, energy producers have improved efficiency and new technology continues to come online each year making the U.S. less dependent on outside sources of energy.

No one knows how this will translate into the future, but what is known the power of OPEC has been severely dented. With oil prices dropping how will this affect U.S. companies’ investment in seeking new energy sources, we already are seeing companies scaling back exploration budgets?

As of now the slowing of the global economies, especially in China and in Europe, has curtailed the power of OPEC, and increased energy output of the U.S., the question will this continue, no one knows.