People around the world became nervous when the price of a barrel of oil dropped to the lowest it has been in 13 years. On February 11th, the price of oil went down to $26.05 per barrel, but has since gone back up to $34.40. This increase makes for a 32% spike in the short time of only 12 trading days.
The world still has too much oil and the United States has not slowed the production enough to ease the supply. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC), has issued a tentative deal to freeze the output of oil. Russia and Saudi Arabia are among only some of the many producers that have agreed to this deal. However, producers from Iran did not find this deal very pleasing. Officials from Iran recently told CNN that this deal was a joke and they were not going to abide by it.
While there will always be conflict over oil production and prices, the U.S. does not believe that the price per barrel of oil will drop any lower than it’s February 11th price of $26.05. That also does not mean that the price will skyrocket to $80 per barrel either. Researchers say that the highest price that it will hit is approximately $40-$50 per barrel which is still very unlikely. “I don’t believe that the conflict over oil will ever be resolved, but as long as gas prices stay cheap I will be happy,” says Siena Petrie, a Wayne Hills junior.