Current price of a barrel of oil

The average annual price of Brent crude oil climbed to 104.85 U.S. dollars per barrel as of September 2022. This is over 30 U.S. dollars higher than the annual average in 2021 and comes in the wake of an energy supply shortage that began gripping Europe in late 2021, as well as concerns over oil supply bottlenecks following the Russia-Ukraine war. Brent is the world's leading price benchmark for Atlantic basin crude oils. Crude oil is one of the most closely observed commodity prices as it influences costs across all stages of the production process and consequently alters the price of consumer goods as well.

Table of Contents Show

What determines crude oil benchmarks?
Light crude oils - Brent and WTI
Weekly oil prices in Brent, OPEC basket, and WTI futures 2020-2022
Lowest ever oil prices during coronavirus pandemic
How crude oil prices are determined
Closing price of Brent, OPEC basket, and WTI crude oil at the beginning of each week from March 2, 2020 to November 7, 2022 (in U.S. dollars per barrel)
Other statistics on the topicOPEC
Statistics on " Coronavirus: impact on the global economy "
Statistics on Coronavirus: impact on the global economy
Further Content: You might find this interesting as well
What is the price of a barrel of oil in 2022?
What is today's price of oil?

What determines crude oil benchmarks?

In the past decade, crude oil prices have been especially volatile. Their inherent inelasticity regarding short-term changes in demand and supply mean that oil prices are erratic by nature. However, since the 2009 financial crisis, many commercial developments have greatly contributed to price volatility; such as economic growth by BRIC countries like China and India, and the advent of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in the U.S. The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war are examples of geopolitical events dictating prices.

Light crude oils - Brent and WTI

Brent Crude is considered a classification of sweet light crude oil and acts as a benchmark price for oil around the world. It is considered a sweet light crude oil due to its low sulfur content and a low density and may be easily refined into gasoline. This oil originates in the North Sea and is comprised of several different oil blends including Brent Blend and Ekofisk crude. Often, this crude oil is refined in Northwest Europe.

Another sweet light oil often referenced alongside UK Brent is West Texas Intermediate (WTI). WTI oil prices totaled 25.9 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2001 and rose to a peak of 93.25 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2014, before decreasing to 39.16 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2020.

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Weekly oil prices in Brent, OPEC basket, and WTI futures 2020-2022

On November 7, 2022, the Brent crude oil price stood at 97.92 U.S. dollars per barrel, compared to 91.79 U.S. dollars for WTI oil and 97.32 for the OPEC basket. Europe's Brent crude oil, the U.S. WTI crude oil, and OPEC's basket are three of the most important benchmarks used by traders as reference for oil and gasoline prices. In March 2022, oil prices soared to highs not seen since 2008 as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. The decrease noted since August reflects market uncertainty over a looming global recession.

Lowest ever oil prices during coronavirus pandemic

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic resulted in crude oil prices hitting a major slump as oil demand drastically declined following lockdowns and travel restrictions. Initial outlooks and uncertainty surrounding the course of the pandemic brought about a disagreement between two of the largest oil producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia in early March. Bilateral talks between global oil producers ended in agreement on April 13th, with promises to cut petroleum output and hopes rising that these might help stabilize the oil price in the coming weeks. However, with storage facilities and oil tankers quickly filling up, fears grew over where to store excess oil, leading to benchmark prices seeing record negative prices between April 20 and April 22, 2020.

How crude oil prices are determined

As with most commodities, crude oil prices are impacted by supply and demand, as well as inventories and market sentiment. However, as oil is most often traded in future contracts (whereby a contract is agreed upon, while the product delivery will follow in the next two to three months), market speculation is one of the principal determinants for oil prices. Traders make conclusion on how production output and consumer demand will likely develop over the coming months, leaving room for uncertainty. Spot prices differ from futures in so far as they reflect the current market price of a commodity.

Closing price of Brent, OPEC basket, and WTI crude oil at the beginning of each week from March 2, 2020 to November 7, 2022 (in U.S. dollars per barrel)

Characteristic	Brent	OPEC basket	WTI
Nov 7, '11	97.92	97.32	91.79
Oct 31, '22	92.81	93.17	86.53
Oct 24, '22	93.26	92.17	84.58
Oct 17, '22	91.62	92.16	85.46
Oct 10, '22	96.19	99.13	91.13
Oct 3, '22	88.86	92.13	83.63
Sep 26,'22	84.06	89.5	76.71
Sep 19, '22	92	95.2	85.73
Sep 12, '22	94	97.5	87.78
Sep 6, '22	92.83	99.03	86.88
Aug 29, '22	105.09	104.85	97.01
Aug 22, '22	96.48	98.72	90.23
Aug 15, '22	95.1	100.04	89.41
Aug 8, '22	96.65	100.78	90.76
Aug 1, '22	100.03	106.8	93.89
Jul 25, '22	105.15	106.27	96.7
Jul 18, '22	106.27	108.76	102.6
Jul 11, '22	107.1	108.86	104.09
Jul 5, '22	102.77	114.3	99.5
Jun 27, '22	115.09	114.88	109.57
Jun 21, '22	114.65	115.97	110.65
Jun 13, '22	122.27	120.66	120.93
Jun 6, '22	119.51	119.85	118.5
May 31. '22	115.6	122.94	114.67
May 23, '22	113.42	115.95	110.29
May 16, '22	114.24	113.07	114.2
May 9, '22	105.94	112.48	103.09
May 2, '22	107.58	110.19	105.17
Apr 25, '22	102.32	101.93	98.54
Apr 18, '22	113.16	110.54	108.21
Apr 11, '22	98.48	100.08	94.29
Apr 4, '22	107.53	106.23	103.28
Mar 28, '22	112.48	113.39	105.96
Mar 21, '22	115.62	113.84	112.23
Mar 14, '22	106.9	110.67	103.01
Mar 7, '22	123.21	126.51	119.4
Feb 28, '22	100.99	99.22	95.72
Feb 22, '22	96.84	97.94	92.35
Feb 14, '22	96.48	95.16	95.46
Feb 7, '22	92.69	93.42	91.32
Jan 31, '22	89.16	90.89	88.15
Jan 24, '22	86.27	87.98	83.31
Jan 18, '22	87.51	88.08	85.43
Jan 10, '22	80.87	81.75	78.23
Jan 3, '22	78.98	78	76.08
Dec 27, '21	78.6	75.63	75.57
Dec 20, '21	71.52	70.94	68.23
Dec 13, '21	74.39	75.04	71.29
Dec 6, '21	73.08	71.41	69.49
Nov 29, '21	73.44	74.2	69.95
Nov 22, '21	79.7	78.9	76.75
Nov 15, '21	82.05	80.9	80.88
Nov 8, '21	83.43	82.34	81.93
Nov 1, '21	84.71	82.49	84.05
Oct 25, '21	85.99	84.66	83.76
Oct 18, '21	84.33	84.04	82.44
Oct 11, '21	83.65	82.53	80.52
Oct 4, '21	81.26	78.26	77.62
Sep 27, '21	79.53	77.73	75.45
Sep 20, '21	73.92	73.47	70.29
Sep 13, '21	73.51	72.77	70.45
Sep 7, '21	71.69	71.34	68.35
Aug 30, '21	73.41	71.88	69.21
Aug 23, '21	68.75	67.33	65.64
Aug 16, '21	69.51	69.65	67.29
Aug 9, '21	69.04	70.66	66.48
Aug 2, '21	72.89	73.89	71.26
Jul 26, '21	74.5	72.68	71.91
Jul 19, '21	68.62	70.54	66.42
Jul 12, '21	75.16	74.33	74.1
Jul 6, '21	74.53	75.94	73.37
Jun 28, '21	74.68	73.84	72.91
Jun 21, '21	74.9	72.45	73.66
Jun 14, '21	72.86	71.99	70.88
Jun 7, '21	71.49	70.15	69.23
Jun 1, '21	70.25	69.03	67.72
May 24, '21	68.46	66.93	66.05
May 17, '21	69.46	67.52	66.27
May 10, '21	68.32	67.1	64.92
May 3, '21	67.56	65.09	64.49
Apr 26, '21	65.65	63.22	61.91
Apr 19, '21	67.05	65.1	63.38
Apr 12, '21	63.28	61.44	59.7
Apr 5, '21	62.15	61.68	58.65
Mar 29, '21	64.98	62.86	61.56
Mar 22, '21	64.62	63.22	61.55
Mar 15, '21	68.88	68.18	63.39
Mar 8, '21	68.24	68.17	65.05
Mar 1, '21	63.69	64.21	60.64
Febr 22, '21	65.24	62.01	61.49
Feb 16, '21	63.35	62.49	60.05
Feb 8, '21	60.56	59.58	57.97
Feb 1, '21	56.35	55.13	52.77
Jan 25, '21	55.88	54.85	53.55
Jan 19, '21	55.9	54.85	52.98
Jan 11, '21	55.66	54.76	52.25
Jan 4, '21	51.09	51.35	47.62
Dec 28, '20	50.86	50.1	47.62
Dec 21, '20	50.91	49.57	47.74
Dec 14, '20	50.29	49.65	46.99
Dec 7, '20	48.79	47.77	45.76
Nov 30, '20	47.59	46.43	45.34
Nov 23, '20	46.06	44.75	43.06
Nov 16, '20	43.62	42.93	41.34
Nov 9, '20	42.4	39.97	40.29
Nov 2, '20	38.97	35.89	36.81
Oct 26, '20	40.46	39.22	38.56
Oct 19, '20	42.62	41.38	40.83
Oct 12, '20	41.72	40.57	39.43
Oct 5, '20	41.29	39.08	39.22
Sep 28, '20	42.43	41.61	40.57
Sep 21, '20	41.44	41.49	39.31
Sep 14, '20	39.61	38.96	37.26
Sep 8, '20	39.78	40.29	36.76
Aug 31, '20	42.61	46.27	45.28
Aug 24, '20	45.13	45.19	42.62
Aug 17, '20	45.37	44.94	42.89
Aug 10, '20	44.99	45.01	41.94
Aug 3, '20	44.15	44.02	41.01
Jul 27, '20	43.41	43.14	41.6
Jul 20, '20	43.28	43.03	40.81
Jul 13, '20	42.72	43.38	40.1
Jul 6, '20	43.1	43.57	40.63
Jun 29, '20	41.71	37.34	39.7
Jun 22, '20	43.08	38.96	40.46
Jun 15, '20	39.72	35.09	37.12
Jun 8, '20	40.8	38.89	38.19
Jun 1, '20	38.32	33.68	35.44
May 26, '20	35.53	29.75	34.35
May 18, '20	34.81	28.21	31.82
May 11, '20	29.63	22.71	24.14
May 4, '20	27.2	18.36	20.39
Apr 28, '20	20.46	12.41	14.22
Apr 20, '20	25.57	14.19	-37.63
Apr 14, '20	29.6	19.7	20.13
Apr 7, '20	31.87	22.67	23.63
Mar 30, '20	22.76	21.66	20.09
Mar 24, '20	27.15	26.53	24.01
Mar 16, '20	30.05	30.63	28.7
Mar 10, '20	37.22	35.73	34.36
Mar 6, '20	45.27	48.33	41.28
Mar 2, '20	51.9	51.65	46.75

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Statistics on " Coronavirus: impact on the global economy "

Statistics on Coronavirus: impact on the global economy

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What is the price of a barrel of oil in 2022?

Weekly oil prices in Brent, OPEC basket, and WTI futures 2020-2022. On November 7, 2022, the Brent crude oil price stood at 97.92 U.S. dollars per barrel, compared to 91.79 U.S. dollars for WTI oil and 97.32 for the OPEC basket.