WTI and Brent crude oil prices end year with growth
2022.12.30 07:34
WTI and Brent crude oil prices end year with growth
Budrigannews.com – On Friday, oil prices fluctuated as the global and US benchmark crude prices appeared to be on track to achieve their second consecutive year of gains.
By 06:47 ET (11:47 GMT), the price of a barrel had increased by 0.28 percent to $83.66, while the price of a barrel in the United States had increased by 0.05 percent to $78.45. However, prior to the New Year’s holiday, trading volumes were lower than average.
Brent is currently on track to finish the year at $77.24 per barrel, which is more than 8% higher than its closing price in 2021. Meanwhile, U.S. WTI is still expected to gain slightly more than 4% from its close in the previous year, which was $75.21 per barrel. After recovering from a decline in demand caused by COVID in 2020, both prices had previously increased by more than 50% year-over-year in 2021.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February raised concerns about future supply constraints, oil markets have experienced volatility throughout 2022. Brent crude’s price reached $139.13 per barrel at one point, its highest level in fourteen years.
However, in the second half of the year, as a series of central bank interest rate hikes to combat soaring inflation sparked a strengthening in the, prices moved down from these highs. Investors’ costs for commodities dominated by the dollar increased as a result of this.
China, a major importer of crude, also saw a drop in demand as Beijing began to relax COVID-19 regulations across the country. Positive thinking perseveres that the simplicity in limitations on the planet’s second biggest economy will deliver repressed oil interest, albeit this has been tempered by reports of a broad flood in cases.
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