The 2025 annual OPEC oil price stood at ***** U.S. dollars per barrel, as of May. This would be lower than the 2024 average, which amounted to ***** U.S. dollars. The abbreviation OPEC stands for Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and includes Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates. The aim of the OPEC is to coordinate the oil policies of its member states. It was founded in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq. The OPEC Reference Basket The OPEC crude oil price is defined by the price of the so-called OPEC (Reference) basket. This basket is an average of prices of the various petroleum blends that are produced by the OPEC members. Some of these oil blends are, for example: Saharan Blend from Algeria, Basra Light from Iraq, Arab Light from Saudi Arabia, BCF 17 from Venezuela, et cetera. By increasing and decreasing its oil production, OPEC tries to keep the price between a given maxima and minima. Benchmark crude oil The OPEC basket is one of the most important benchmarks for crude oil prices worldwide. Other significant benchmarks are UK Brent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), and Dubai Crude (Fateh). Because there are many types and grades of oil, such benchmarks are indispensable for referencing them on the global oil market. The 2025 fall in prices was the result of weakened demand outlooks exacerbated by extensive U.S. trade tariffs.

Crude Oil rose to 68.75 USD/Bbl on July 11, 2025, up 3.27% from the previous day. Over the past month, Crude Oil's price has risen 1.04%, but it is still 16.37% lower than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Crude Oil - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on July of 2025.

Heating Oil rose to 2.47 USD/Gal on July 11, 2025, up 3.46% from the previous day. Over the past month, Heating Oil's price has risen 11.10%, but it is still 1.60% lower than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Heating oil - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on July of 2025.

On April 20th, 2020, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil slumped into negative for the first time in history, falling to negative 37.63 U.S. dollars per barrel. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on the global oil and gas industry. Declining consumer demand and high levels of production output are threatening to exceed oil storage capacities, which resulted in the lowest ever oil prices noted between April 20th and April 22nd.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

We study the effects of releases from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) within the context of fully specified models of the global oil market that explicitly allow for storage demand as well as unanticipated changes in the SPR. We show that historically SPR policy interventions, defined as sequences of exogenous SPR shocks during selected periods, have helped stabilize the price of oil. Their effect on the price of oil, however, has been modest. For example, the cumulative effect of the SPR releases after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was a reduction of $2 per barrel in the real price of oil after 7 months. Whereas emergency drawdowns tend to lower the real price of oil, we find that exchanges tend to raise the real price of oil in the long run. We also provide a detailed analysis of the benefits of the 2018 White House proposal to sell off half of the SPR within the next decade. We show that the expected fiscal benefits of this plan are somewhat higher than the revenue of $16.6 billion dollars projected by the White House.

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, oil prices in the United Kingdom stood at 74 dollars per barrel, with prices expected to rise to 76.6 dollars a barrel in early 2025, before gradually falling in subsequent quarters.

Urals Oil fell to 64.96 USD/Bbl on July 10, 2025, down 3.36% from the previous day. Over the past month, Urals Oil's price has risen 2.51%, but it is still 18.27% lower than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for Urals Crude.

Interactive chart showing the daily closing price for West Texas Intermediate (NYMEX) Crude Oil over the last 10 years. The prices shown are in U.S. dollars.

The author argues that the economic benefits of low gasoline prices for the U.S. economy have fallen substantially since the reemergence of America as a major oil producer. The old rule-of thumb that a 10% fall in the oil price raises inflation-adjusted U.S. GDP by 0.2% is too large—the impact on economic activity should be closer to zero, and may even be negative if consumption grows slowly. The reasons for this change are straightforward, if underappreciated: (i) the value of oil production accounts for a larger share of the U.S. economy; and (ii) consumers are not spending the windfall like they used to because of higher debt levels, limited access to credit, slow wage rowth, and an older population.

Brent rose to 70.69 USD/Bbl on July 11, 2025, up 2.99% from the previous day. Over the past month, Brent's price has risen 1.92%, but it is still 16.86% lower than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Brent crude oil - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on July of 2025.

Oil prices have started the new year on a positive note, driven by declining US crude stockpiles and influenced by geopolitical tensions and global demand dynamics.

Discover how the Federal Reserve's interest rate strategy is impacting oil prices and future demand.

Goldman Sachs highlights risks of Brent crude falling below $40 amid trade tensions and increased OPEC+ production.

About the Project

KAPSARC is analyzing the shifting dynamics of the global gas markets. Global gas markets have turned upside down during the past five years: North America has emerged as a large potential future LNG exporter while gas demand growth has been slowing down as natural gas gets squeezed between coal and renewables. While the coming years will witness the fastest LNG export capacity expansion ever seen, many questions are raised on the next generation of LNG supply, the impact of low oil and gas prices on supply and demand patterns and how pricing and contractual structure may be affected by both the arrival of U.S. LNG on global gas markets and the desire of Asian buyers for cheaper gas.

Key Points

In the past year, global gas prices have dropped significantly, albeit at unequal paces depending on the region. All else being equal, economists would suggest that this should have generated a positive demand response. However, “all else” was not equal. Prices of other commodities also declined while economic growth forecasts were downgraded.

Prices at benchmark points such as the U.K. National Balancing Point (NBP), U.S. Henry Hub (HH) and Japan/Korea Marker (JKM) slumped due to lower oil prices, liquefied natural gas (LNG) oversupply and unseasonal weather. Yet, the prices of natural gas in local currencies have increased in a number of developing countries in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, former Soviet Union (FSU) and Asia.

North America experienced demand growth while gas in Europe and Asia faced rising competition from cheaper coal, renewables and, in some instances, nuclear. Gains to European demand were mostly weather related while increases in Africa and Latin America were not significant.

For LNG, Europe became the market of last resort as Asian consumption declined. Moreover, an anticipated surge in LNG supply, brought on by several new projects, may lead to a confrontation with Russian or other pipeline gas suppliers to Europe. At the same time, Asian buyers are seeking concessions on pricing and flexibility in their long-term contracts.

Looking ahead, natural gas has to prove itself a credible and affordable alternative to coal, notably in Asia, if the world is to reach its climate change targets. The future of the gas industry will also depend on oil prices, evolution of Chinese energy demand and impact of COP21 on national energy policies. Current low prices mean there is likely to be a pause in final investment decisions (FIDs) on LNG projects in the coming years.

Nigeria's economy was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among others, oil prices experienced a sharp fall and the country lowered the daily crude oil production consistently. In January 2019, the price per barrel amounted to ** U.S. dollars per barrel, whereas in April 2020 the price dropped by ** dollars. Crude oil, petrol, and fuel represented Nigeria's main source of export value.

Palm Oil rose to 4,175 MYR/T on July 11, 2025, up 0.68% from the previous day. Over the past month, Palm Oil's price has risen 8.72%, and is up 6.67% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Palm Oil - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on July of 2025.

Sunflower Oil fell to 1,238 INR/10 kg on July 11, 2025, down 0.20% from the previous day. Over the past month, Sunflower Oil's price has fallen 0.13%, but it is still 35.94% higher than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for Sunflower Oil.

Oil prices fell early Thursday due to rising U.S. inventories and Saudi Arabia's price cuts for Asian crude, with Brent and WTI crude experiencing declines.

Interactive daily chart of Brent (Europe) crude oil prices over the last ten years. Values shown are daily closing prices.