December 6

12/6 - Concerns that the Omicron variant, and associated new travel restrictions, will put a dent in global oil usage sent West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures plummeting from over $80 per barrel in November to $66.26 on Friday (12/3). Additionally, OPEC announced that it will expand oil production by 400,000 barrels per day (monthly) through January. OPEC pumped 27.74M bpd in November. The EIA is forecasting gasoline prices to jump from $2.18 per gallon in 2020 to $3.00 in 2021, but then to level off and average $2.91 in 2022, $.31 above the pre-Covid average of $2.60 per gallon in 2019. The single biggest factor for fuel price increases this year has been the decline in U.S. oil production, which is running 17% below peak levels of 2019. Current energy policy and climate goals are discouraging both new drilling and overall investment in anything fossil fuel-related.