“Oil prices fell about 3% in 2024, their second straight year of declines, as the post-pandemic demand recovery stalled, China’s economy struggled and the U.S. and other non-OPEC producers pumped more oil into a well-supplied global market.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
Oil prices fell about 3% in 2024, their second straight year of declines, as the post-pandemic demand recovery stalled, China’s economy struggled and the U.S. and other non-OPEC producers pumped more oil into a well-supplied global market. Reuters writes about it. Brent crude futures rose 65 cents, or 0.88%, to $74.64 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 73 cents, or 1.03%, to $71.72 a barrel. Benchmark Brent is down about 3% from its final 2023 closing price of $77.04, while WTI is little changed from last year’s final settlement.Advertisement: September Brent futures closed below $70 a barrel for the first time since December 2021, and this year Brent has generally traded below the highs of the past few years as demand recovers after pandemics and price shocks from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have begun to subside. Oil is likely to trade around $70 a barrel in 2025, the paper said, as weak demand in China and rising global supplies offset efforts by OPEC+ to prop up the market, according to a monthly Reuters poll released on Tuesday. Worsening demand forecasts in China, in particular, forced the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency (IEA) to lower their expectations for oil demand growth in 2024 and 2025. Advertisement: Also read: Trump plans to crash oil prices. How realistic is it and how will it affect Russia?