THANKS, FRACKERS! Labor Day Gas Prices Hit 12-Year Low.

The last time gas prices leading up to the Labor Day weekend were this cheap, the world was just moving on from the Olympics in Athens, Greece. Thanks to abundant shale’s depressive effect on global oil prices, gas prices this holiday weekend are hitting a twelve year low. . . .

A global glut precipitated the precipitous collapse in crude prices over the past 26 months, and the bulk of that oversupply has come as a result of resurgent American production, courtesy of fracking. With oil trading today around $45 per barrel—a far cry from those heady $100+ days two summers back—it’s not a stretch to say we’re in a buyer’s market. That’s especially helpful for drivers, one of the biggest consumers of (refined) oil, and it’s being reflected in significant savings at the pump.

For producers, it’s an entirely different story. America’s oil production has flagged over the past year as shale companies have struggled to adjust to shrinking profit margins, though the industry continues to surprise observers with its ability to innovate ways to stay in the black—and keep producing the black gold. The world’s petrostates, however, have had a harder time adjusting, which is why we’re seeing so much talk about a potential deal for a group of these countries to agree to freeze their output at a meeting in Algeria later this month.

Fracking empowers ordinary Americans and weakens American enemies. Naturally, all right-thinking people are against it.