Why are oil prices suddenly dropping?

Oct 6, 2023
Since the end of September, Brent Crude has been sliding — down to the $84-a-barrel range, more than a 10% decline in just over a week. This is also playing out at the pump, with gas down about eight cents a gallon in the last week.
Along with oil prices, the average price of gas in the U.S. has fallen in the last week. Above, a gas station in Los Angeles, California.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Crude oil prices are down, but oil companies' profits are doing just fine

Apr 28, 2023
They're making less on crude, more on refining it.
Exxon’s refinery business helped lead the company to its most profitable first quarter ever. But that’s the exception since the pandemic started three years ago.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The benchmark for determining global crude oil prices is changing

Mar 31, 2023
Dated Brent, used to set the price of most of the world's oil, will include supplies from Texas for the first time.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil has the qualities needed for an update of the Brent index. Above, storage tanks in Midland, Texas.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images