Oil: "North Dakota Producers Looking at Crude Falling to $30"

From 24/7 Wall Street:

Tuesday, December 30, was the last time that the posted price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil topped $50 a barrel. That price indicated how much Plains Marketing, a division of Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA), was willing to pay for a barrel of WTI crude. On Monday, January 5, Plains said it would pay $46.25 per barrel for WTI. Indeed, $40 oil is already here.

Crude prices on the NYMEX fell below $50 a barrel briefly on Monday, but managed to close the trading day at $50.04. Tuesday morning the price fell to $48.47 in early electronic trading.

The really bad news is the price that Plains Marketing is offering to pay for crude oil produced in the Bakken shale play. Williston Basin Sweet (equivalent to WTI) fetched just $33.44 a barrel on Monday; Williston Basin Sour fetched just $24.33. No other grade of crude on the Plains price bulletin was priced lower than Williston Sour....MORE