WTI Crude Oil Prices

WTI crude oil prices averaged USD 70.09 per barrel in December, up 0.2% from November. On 31 December, the commodity traded at USD 72.44 per barrel, up 6.1% from 29 November.

Prices largely stagnated, as trading volumes froze up due to the festive period. For hedge funds on the ICE exchange, December capped an anticlimactic end to a disappointing year. But they took on the festive cheer, raising their net long position to the highest level since August, as China’s manufacturing sector grew for the successive third month and Donald Trump—who may slap additional sanctions on oil producers Iran and Venezuela—prepared to reenter office.