Crude Oil Prices: Crude oil prices continued to rise in April and reached their highest levels of the year. The North Sea Brent front month futures price settled at $65.54 per barrel (b) on May 7, an increase of $8.44/b since the close on April 1 ( Figure 1 ). The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) front month futures price rose by $8.85/b over the same period to settle at $58.94/b on May 7. Figure 1: Historical crude oil front month futures prices Although current oil market conditions still show production outpacing consumption, a combination of factors may tighten markets in the near future and are lending support to current prices. Surplus production capacity was estimated at 1.7 b/d in April, the lowest since […]