The massive slide in oil prices following last week’s OPEC decision not to cut production took a breather this morning.
Futures prices for the two main benchmarks, WTI crude and Brent crude, are up 2.8% and 2.7%, respectively. But that’s little solace to the countries depending on high oil prices to balance their books, since the spot contracts are the cheapest they’ve been in five years.
On the other hand, this is good news at the gas pump, where low prices have some nostalgic for Hummers already.
But the long-term economic impact is less clear. Cheap oil (and its ongoing skirmishes with Ukraine) forced Russia to abandon its currency peg as the rouble tumbles, and oil-rich Nigeria’s naira is also dropping.
Oil prices have stopped falling—for now
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