Closing price of Brent, OPEC basket, and WTI crude oil at the beginning of each week from January 6, 2020 to July 21, 2026 (in U.S. dollars per barrel)

On July 21, 2026, the Brent crude oil price stood at 91.47 U.S. dollars per barrel, compared to 84.91 U.S. dollars for WTI oil and 88.5 U.S. dollars for the OPEC basket. Oil prices decreased since late May.
Europe's Brent crude oil, the U.S. WTI crude oil, and OPEC's basket are three of the most important benchmarks used by traders as references for global oil and gasoline prices. Prices rose heavily in March amidst the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.

Lowest ever oil prices during coronavirus pandemic

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic resulted in crude oil prices hitting a major slump as oil demand drastically declined following lockdowns and travel restrictions. Initial outlooks and uncertainty surrounding the course of the pandemic brought about a disagreement between two of the largest oil producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia, in early March. Bilateral talks between global oil producers ended in agreement on April 13th, with promises to cut petroleum output and hopes rising that these might help stabilize the oil price in the coming weeks. However, with storage facilities and oil tankers quickly filling up, fears grew over where to store excess oil, leading to benchmark prices seeing record negative prices between April 20 and April 22, 2020.

How crude oil prices are determined

As with most commodities, crude oil prices are impacted by supply and demand, as well as inventories and market sentiment. However, as oil is most often traded in future contracts (where a contract is agreed upon while product delivery will follow in the next two to three months), market speculation is one of the principal determinants for oil prices. Traders make conclusions on how production output and consumer demand will likely develop over the coming months, leaving room for uncertainty. Spot prices differ from futures in so far as they reflect the current market price of a commodity.