Gas, oil prices expected to remain low in 2016

Lower gas and oil prices in 2016 are expected to set this country and others in the region on the path to economic development and give persons some financial reprieve.

Country manager at SOL EC Ltd Steve Francis said on Saturday night that oil prices in 2016 are expected to remain “pretty low”, therefore setting the tone for economic growth.{{more}}

“I recognize that many of you have been following the trends in oil prices and wondering what will happen in the year 2016,” said Francis, who revealed that he recently returned from a management meeting in New York, where SOL held discussions with representatives from Citi Bank and one of the things said by an expert is that oil prices in 2016 are expected to be low.

“…so in other words, you can expect prices for gasoline, diesel, kerosene and so forth to be at a minimal price,” said Francis.

On Wednesday, when this article was written, a barrel of oil cost US$35.63, much lower than about a year ago when the price of a barrel of oil hit a record high.

On Saturday, Francis said that there is really no expectation that there will be any major rise in oil prices come 2016, “and I think that says very much in terms of the kinds of economic growth that countries in the region can look forward to, given the fact that oil prices are not expected to rise significantly.”

He said that the oil prices are expected to hover around US$36, US$37, US$38 come 2016.

“This is a good way to start 2016 and I can only trust and pray that you can all benefit from lower prices. Lower prices mean a lot to economic growth and development and we need it very much within this particular region,” said Francis who was speaking during SOL’s appreciation and awards dinner, which was held at the Young Island Resort to recognize employees who have been at SOL for 10 years.

Francis, himself a 10-year worker, said that the time at SOL has been challenging, but the company has always tried to maintain its supplies and products.

“One of the things with the petroleum industry is that you want to avoid a stockout situation because to be stocked out of product means, especially for SOL, that the majority of the country will be out of product, since we have the largest market share and so it is no accident that we have to work assiduously to ensure that that situation does not arise,” stressed Francis.

He said that the years at SOL have been very rewarding, as the company has grown exponentially.

“When we started in 2005, we were represented in 10 countries; now we have 23/24 countries and this has been a very fantastic growth for us and I am very confident that we will continue to grow from strength to strength as we do look towards a broader horizon.”

The SOL manager said that it is his belief that SOL will not only grow in the Caribbean in 2016, but outside the region as well.

“I think we have to look outside of the Caribbean because we are represented in almost every Caribbean country, including the French West indies, the Dutch West Indies, the Spanish West Indies and of course the English speaking Caribbean countries.”

Francis also described SOL as a multilingual company of people with diverse backgrounds and resources.(LC)