West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Up to $49.93 a Barrel on Tuesday
That was the highest price since February. Remember when oil futures contracts briefly went negative in April? Well they have had quite a rebound since, and are about to settle above $50 a barrel.
The latest rise came after the oil cartel OPEC reached an agreement with Russia and other large producers to keep production steady until March. Saudi Arabia will also cut supply.
Like all commodities, the price of oil is set by the intersection of supply and demand. The demand side of the equation remains well below where it was a year ago, because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns across the globe. That has depressed travel and other uses of oil.