Crude oil opened October at $62/barrel, with ongoing concerns about OPEC+ production increases pushing prices down to $60 within the first few trading days of the month. Prices rebounded slightly in the following days when OPEC+’s output hike of 137,000 bpd turned out to be relatively modest when compared to some of the loftier projections of 500,000 bpd or more.

Crude oil kicked off September with prices hovering around $64/barrel, bolstered by recent Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian petroleum infrastructure. New sanctions on illicit segments of the Iranian crude trade helped push prices to $65 shortly thereafter, only for prices to slide below $62 within the next few trading days on reports of planned OPEC+ production increases. The next several

Crude oil finished the first trading day of August at $67/barrel; this would prove to be oil’s high-water mark for the remainder of the month. For the following week and a half, oil prices embarked on a long, slow slide, dipping below just below $62 by August 13th. Several factors played into oil’s August slump, chiefly a muted response from

Crude oil kicked off July at $65/barrel following a tumultuous June which saw intraday prices reach as high as $79/barrel. Oil managed a very slight gain the first week of July, but a rise in Cushing, OK inventory (the physical settlement site for NYMEX WTI crude contracts) tempered the bullish enthusiasm generated by OPEC reporting that oil production is falling

Crude oil entered June around $62/barrel, with futures still sluggish due to ongoing concerns about soft demand and increased production. This was merely the calm before the storm, however. After a listless first trading week, a 5% price jump on June 11 hinted at the pricing roller coaster to come. This spike came as the U.S. announced they were partially

Oil prices entered May at a subdued $58/barrel, nearly dipping below $57 on May 5. This would prove to be WTI’s lowest price point of the month. Lower prices helped foster a demand increase, with reports in early May of U.S. crude inventories dropping at a faster-than-expected rate, boosting prices higher. However, the following week brought reports of a higher-than-expected

Oil prices began April relatively strong at $71/barrel. A flurry of tariff announcements, coupled with OPEC+’s decision to reverse planned production cuts, sent oil futures plummeting to $59/barrel within the first seven trading days of the month. Increased recession risks and slumping demand prevented any immediate recovery in oil prices.  The following graph shows the daily price movements over the

Oil prices began March at $68/barrel.  Concerns about tariff impacts, along with OPEC’s plans for eight of its member nations to increase production for the first time since 2022, pushed prices down to $66 by the end of the first week of March. A fresh round of additional sanctions on Iran helped prices rebound. The following week, OPEC issued its

Oil prices began February at $73/barrel. After an initial announcement of tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, the Trump administration quickly decided to pause for 30 days. Additional tariffs and sanctions were placed on China and Iran also. These actions caused oil prices to retreat for the near term toward $70/barrel, but fears of a trade war are building.

Oil prices began 2025 ascending towards $80/barrel. The main contributors being the positive economic news coming from China, as well as the coldest temperatures in the past decade across the U.S. These factors were causing oil prices to spike due to a brighter global demand picture, and the more immediate need for heating oil in the Northeast. The following graph