February 8, 2022
The 2022 Outlook for the U.S. Oil Industry
By Jon N. Hall
In the media, speculation abounds over whether the price of a barrel of crude oil might soon top $100. The day that the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude first traded above $100 was during the first day of trading in 2008. But on that January 2, WTI closed below the century mark, at $99.62. The price would sag for a few weeks more, but then it surged, and on February 28 WTI closed above the psychological hundred-bucks-a-barrel barrier for the first time, at $102.60.
The all-time high for WTI is $145.31, set on July 3 of 2008. But prices quickly headed southwards, and at the close of trading on December 23, 2008, a barrel of WTI crude would put a trader back exactly $30.28, the year’s low, and a downdraft of about 79 percent in under six months.
Of course, we’re talking 2008 here, a nasty, particularly odious year. A year spent entirely in recession, which in the autumn saw a near fatal collapse of the financial system. But 2008 is also significant because back then the U.S. was importing a lot more oil. About a decade later, however, and we were “energy independent.” That was due almost entirely to the development of shale oil, i.e. fracking.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/02/the_2022_outlook_for_the_us_oil_industry.html
