Brent Crude, the international benchmark for crude oil prices, closed on Monday at $123.21 per barrel, registering a 27% increase from 12 days earlier when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started. West Texas Intermediary oil, the United States benchmark, was up 30% over the same period. Gasoline prices hit $4.25 per gallon of regular gas, according to AAA’s survey Wednesday, with a $5 per gallon national average not implausible. Furthermore, WTI crude ended the last session 3.6% higher at $123.70 per barrel, while Brent Crude stood 4.3% higher at $123.21 per barrel.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Tran has stated that it would not be too far-fetched for oil prices to hit $200 per barrel this summer, thereby hinting that the oil price rally might still have a long way to go. The Energy Information Administration (EIA), in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), has hiked its Brent Crude price forecast from $82.87 to an average of $105.22 per barrel this year.
