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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

High oil prices may hurt poorest Americans most

Sep 27, 2023
Tight global supply raises costs for industry and motorists, but for now, the pain is milder than it was during price spikes decades earlier.
Gasoline prices in Burbank, California, last week.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Oil tanker costs climb as Russia ties up system with longer routes

Apr 13, 2023
The cost to ship fuel has more than doubled since February.
Sanctions forced Russia to sell more of its oil to countries like India and China, straining the availability of tanker ships.
Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images

Oil demand is steady, but now OPEC+ is cutting supply

Apr 3, 2023
The economies of China, the U.S. and Europe will all be affected by the cartel's move to boost energy prices.
An oil tanker delivers crude to a Chinese port. China’s been increasing its oil demand, but that may not offset a potential slowdown in the West, according to Sara Vakshouri of SVB Energy.
STR/AFP via Getty Images

Why OPEC Plus isn't likely to increase oil supply

Mar 30, 2022
Spare capacity has been overstated, says oil analyst Abhi Rajendran. Then there's the matter of isolating Russia.
OPEC Plus nations are together responsible for 40% of the world's oil supply.
Jakub Sukup/AFP via Getty Images

Making sense of Monday's market sell-off

Mar 10, 2020
If the S&P 500 falls an additional 1.4%, the bull market run will have officially ended.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 9, 2020 in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

How the energy market affects the price at the pump

Sep 17, 2019
We break down the numbers behind a barrel of oil with Amelie Carlton of Rice University.
This AFPTV screen grab from a video made on Sept. 14 shows smoke billowing from an Aramco oil facility.
AFP/Getty Images

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Global economic recovery eats through oil glut

Apr 20, 2018
This morning President Donald Trump turned his ire on OPEC: “OPEC is at it again,” he tweeted. “Oil prices are artificially Very High!” Sure, it’s convenient to blame someone for high gas prices. But the broader story — beyond the 280 characters that Twitter allows — is that something bigger is happening in the world oil […]

Despite domestic oil boom, some students in Texas are hesitant to enter the field

Mar 26, 2018
Some colleges are finding that students are not eager to enroll in oil and gas majors.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Venezuela’s debt could give China and Russia an oil market edge

Aug 2, 2017
As chaos in Venezuela continues, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on President Nicolás Maduro and is threatening an embargo on Venezuelan oil. But that could backfire: if Washington pushes hard enough, Venezuela could go belly up on its debt, and that debt is owned in large part by Russia and China. The U.S. doesn’t want […]