The oil industry is driven by booms and bღusts. Prices rise during periods of global economic strength during which demand outpaces supply. Prices fall when the reverse is true. Meanwhile, oil supply and demand are driven by at least five key factors:

• Changes in the value of the U.S. dollar
• Changes in Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) policies
• Changes in oil production and inventory levels
• The state of the global economy
• The implementation (or collapse) of international agreements

Notably, 2015 offers an interesting example of how all five factors can conspire to send prices to historic lows. At that time, the price of crude oil fell by more than half in under a year, reaching lows that had not been seen since the last global recession.

At the time, many oil executives believed it would be years before oil returned to $100 per barrel. They were right. Oil topped $100 per barrel in February and March 2022, during the depths of the supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Prices then dropped well below that level and remain lower as of February 2025.

Five main factors can be identified as having driven crude oil🌄 prices down and kept them down in 2015.

1. The Dollar Strengthens

In 2015, the dollar was at a 12-year high against the euro.

That placed pressure on market prices because com♔modity prices are usually quoted in dollars, and they will fall when the U.S. dollar is strong.

For example, the surge in the dollar in the second half of 2014 caused a rare sharp decline in all of the leading commodity indexes.

2. OPEC Retains Production Levels

OPEC, the cartel of oil producers that set🍬s production levels, was unwilling to prop up the oil markets by 🐽cutting its production levels.

The oil ministers said in a statement that they had "concurred that stable oil prices – at a level which did not affect global economic growth but which, at the same time, allowed producers to receive a decent income and to invest to meet future demand – were vital for world economic wellbeing."

Prices of OPEC’s 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:benchmark crude oil fell by a whopping 50% after the organization decided against cutting production at that 2014 meeting in Vienna.

3. Global Inventory Grows

The prices of crude futures declined in late September 2015 when it became clear that oil s🔜tockpiles were growing amid increased production.

The 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that global oil inventories increased in every quarter of 2015, with a net inventory build of 1.72 million barrels per day. That was the highest rate since at least 1996. By the end of 2015, oil prices were below $40 per barrel, the lowest level since 2009.

Total oil production by the end of 2015 was expected to increase to more than 9.3﷽5 million barrels per day—higher than previous forecasts of 9.3 million barrels per day.

4. The Economy Weakens

While the supply of oil became increasingly abundant in 2015, global demand for oil was decreasing. The economies of Europe and developing countries were weakening. Vehicles💧 were becoming more fuel-ef꧅ficient.

Meanwhile, China's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:devaluation of its currency suggested that its economy might be weakening as well. Since ♌China is the world's largest oil importer, that was a huge hit to global demand and caused a negatiꦉve reaction in crude oil prices.

5. Iran Makes a Deal

In July 2015, the U.S. and other world powers signed a deal that🌺 lifted economic sanctions against Iran.

The 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Iran nuclear deal, as it became known, freed Iran to start exporting oil again. Investors feared it would add to the world's oversupply of oil, dragging down prices even more.

(In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal. Later, President Joe Biden expressed a willingness to renew talks but no action was taken during his term in office. All terms of the agreement are set to expire by October 2025.)

The Bottom Line

At least five factors combine to influence the price of crude oil and, down the line, the price of gasoline at the pump. They are changes in the U.S. dollar's value, policy changes by the OPEC nations, changes in oil production and inventory, the state of the global economy, and the status of international agreements.

In 201𒐪5, all of these factors turned positive, a rare occurrence that brought oil prices to a historic low.