Thanks to international issues and pressures, oil prices have been fairly volatile over the past couple of weeks.  Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy said the price for a barrel of West Texas Crude fell last week, thanks to China’s zero COVID policy, which locked down the 2nd largest economy in the world.

 

However, with hope mounting that China could loosen its COVID restrictions, oil prices rebounded Monday, moving up to $79 per barrel for West Texas Crude, a $5 jump from last week’s lows.  But DeHaan noted China not the only international issue keeping the attention of oil investors.

 

“OPEC+ plus met over the weekend to discuss cutting oil production, however it simply extended production cuts announced in November.  In addition, the EU moving forward on a price cap of $60 on Russian oil.  Now a lot when it comes to Russia will be seen in the days and weeks ahead, how Russia may respond to those price caps.  They have said that they could limit oil exports to countries that engage in them and that could shake up the future of prices.”

 

DeHaan said over the next week or two, he anticipates fuel prices to continue to fall.

 

“A drop in gasoline and diesel prices is likely to continue for now and it's possible the national average could fall under $3 a gallon by Christmas.”

 

 

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-9791, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com 

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