DeHaan: COVID Continues To Drive Oil Markets, OPEC

The "new norm" that we saw in 2020 has continued for most, if not all of 2021. COVID-19 case counts continue to dictate where oil prices move, and while demand for oil has rebounded from the lows we saw last year, along with oil prices,

“Oil production is lagging behind the recovery and demand and that may continue to be the case for the weeks and months ahead.  And of course now, we’re in the midst of hurricane season," said Patrick DeHaan with Gas Buddy. He noted that typically OPEC dictates where oil prices go, but now, he said OPEC is chasing the market.

“They don’t want prices to go up too much, but of course they are happy that prices have gone up compared to last year, but it is kind of a cat and mouse game where demand goes up and then OPEC reacts and raises production but now with COVID surging here in the past couple of weeks the question I have is will OPEC adjust downward its oil production numbers in light of the increase globally we’re seeing because of the Delta variant?”

DeHaan added U.S. consumers are experiencing some of the highest gasoline and diesel prices seen in the past seven years.

So, what does DeHaan see driving oil prices during the final quarter of 2021? And where does he see prices going in the weeks ahead? For that and much more, check out our Price at the Pump podcast.

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