Oil Price Predictions Bank On How Quickly Shale Production Resumes

Oil Price Predictions Bank On How Quickly Shale Production Resumes

TOPSHOT - Oil pumpjacks operate at dusk Willow Springs Park in Long Beach, California on April 21, ... [+] 2020, a day after oil prices dropped to below zero as the oil industry suffers steep falls in benchmark crudes due to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. - President Donald Trump on April 21 ordered his administration to come up with a plan to aid US oil companies struggling with a massive supply glut and record-low crude prices. "We will never let the great US Oil & Gas Industry down," Trump tweeted. (Photo by Apu GOMES / AFP) (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images) The success of the vaccines against COVID-19 did a lot to assuage fears, grow the economy globally and increase oil use this spring, sending prices sharply up. Yet, just how long this economy recovery and rising oil prices will continue is anybody's guess. Oil prices have certainly responded to a more normal economy: After West Texas Intermediate prices (a good gauge for US oil) bottomed out at $21 per barrel in March 2020, prices hit $74 in July 2021, and are now roughly $70. These price fluctuations are largely a result of the pandemic and resulting