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The price of Brent North Sea oil has fallen to $48.20 a barrel, the lowest price seen for the benchmark since 2005.
In what is being hailed as a major coup for the Rudd government, federal petrol price commissioner Joe Dimasi has delivered on a key plank of their 2007 election platform: a worldwide economic slowdown sufficient to slash demand for oil.
But keeping prices low will be a challenge. Mr Dimasi’s next task is to address one of the major threats to low prices: disruptions to the oil supply in the troubled Niger Delta region.
Rebel gunmen in speedboats have breached in the main onshore pipeline carrying 90,000 barrels a day to the Nigerian port of Escravos. Tomorrow, Mr Dimasi and a crack team of ACCC price surveillance officials will chopper into Port Harcourt to receive a briefing from commanders on the ground.
Industry analysts predict that Mr Dimasi will be told that the rebel force is too strong to take on and cannot be stopped, at which point the petrol commissioner will say something cool like “The ACCC plays an informal monitoring role in petrol, diesel and automotive LPG prices.”
Then, disobeying a direct order, he will lead several of his most trusted Fuel Price Monitoring Branch staffers into the jungle. According to the voice-over, “In a country ruled by fear, only one man stands between OPEC quota fulfillment and chaos.”
“The petrol commissioner is back. And this time, his role is informal.”
