After all, a drop in oil prices like the one predicted by Gulf Oil’s CEO would surely be merely a temporary thing, as the law of supply and demand would soon lead the former to drop, causing the latter to rise.

Gulf Oil CEO Joe Petrowski said on Wednesday that the price of oil could sink to $20 per barrel, and there is a chance gasoline prices could drop as low as $1 per gallon by early next year.

Speaking at a South Shore Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Lombardo’s in Randolph, the Brockton native said that after speculators drove oil prices up, there is a chance that the market will overshoot on the way back down, resulting in much lower prices at the pump.

We still need to develop solar, wind, and other alternate energy sources. We still need to build nuclear plants. We still need to expand the use of clean coal technology. And we still need to heed the wisdom of those chanting “Drill here, drill now” in an effort to end our dependency on foreign energy suppliers.

UPDATE: Looks like Petrowski is not alone in his analysis.