Dr. Ray Hill, a Goizueta finance professor and economist with interest in energy prices, says gas prices could start to level off and decline if crisis situations in the Middle East cool.
Hill, speaking with Julia Harding of MyFoxAtlanta Sunday evening, said the current turmoil in Libya has halted some oil exports, but it’s just a drop compared to daily, worldwide consumption.
As of Tuesday, average gas prices in Atlanta drifted upward to $3.29 per gallon.
“Libya produces about 1.6 million barrels a day,” Hill said. “Compare that with what we consume worldwide about 90 million barrels, so it’s not that much. But some of the Libyan oil production has been suspended. That’s not a very serious event.”
Hill said if the crisis calms gas prices could return to lower levels within a matter of weeks. He also said talk of a double-dip recession sparked by higher fuel costs is “overblown.”
The issue is that Middle East doesn’t seem to cool off.