1、 https:/crsreports.congress.gov April 12, 2016Oil Prices and the Value of the DollarOil Prices Oil prices, as measured by the spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), achieved a level of $107.95 per barrel on June 20, 2014. By March 14, 2016, the price of the same barrel of oil had sunk to $37.2
2、0 per barrel, a decline of over 65%. The fall in the price of oil was not continuous. After the initial decline, oil prices seemed to have stabilized in the $60 per barrel range from April 2015 through June 2015, but then began to decline again. Figure 1. Spot Price of West Texas Intermediate Oil, 2
3、013-2016 Source: Energy Information Administration, oil price data. Graphic by CRS. Many explanations have been given for the decline in oil prices. On the market fundamentals side, weak economic growth, almost worldwide, was credited with reducing overall oil demand growth. On the supply side of th
4、e market, rapid growth of U.S., and other, non-conventional oil supplies, as well as increasing production in Iraq, were creating a supply glut, resulting in record amounts of oil held in storage. With respect to political/economic factors, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC
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