Oil Prices Half as High as Last Year

If you were on the road this time last year, you surely remember the pain you felt each time you went to fill up at the gas station. Crude oil prices skyrocketed last year, reaching an astronomical $145.29 a barrel, but this year, oil prices remain relatively tame at $66.73 a barrel. Slackening demand for oil across the world has seen prices fall by almost $3 recently.

Oil prices have appeared to be on a rollercoaster ride over the past year. From the record-high prices reached last year, oil plummeted to about $34 per barrel in December as the economic crisis shattered demand for crude oil. Despite the touchy situation of the economy still, oil has slowly recovered and gained value from then until now.

Analysts have attributed last year’s oil price spike to a number of factors. The first was a global increase in demand for oil, which allowed oil holders to drive the price higher and maintain profitability. The second was the fact that the dollar was actually very weak at a bad time, leading to shocking prices at the pump.

Remember those days? (Image: Flickr)