[5][6] With the increase in U.S. supplies and OPEC's plan to keep cutting production, oil ended the next week down, with WTI at $53.40 and Brent crude at $55.81.
[9] After U.S. inventories reached a record at the end of February, oil fell for three straight days and closed at its lowest level in nearly a month, with WTI at $52.61 and Brent at $55.08.
[21] Despite plans to extend production cuts, on May 4, oil fell to its lowest level since November, with WTI falling to $45.52 and Brent crude reaching $48.26.
[23] With expectations production cuts would continue, Brent crude was up for the second week and WTI finished May 18 at $49.35, its highest close since April 26.
[28] Excessive worldwide supplies and high U.S. production led to the fourth straight down week as Brent crude finished June 16 at $47.37 and WTI rose to $44.74, a day after oil reached its lowest level in six months.
Prices rose slightly with news that although American producers added rigs for a record 22 weeks, the rate of increase was slowing, and that some countries were starting to export less.
[31] After eight days of gains due to an expected end in a rise in U.S. production, Brent crude fell to $49.43 and WTI to $46.85 on July 4.
Lower production by Libya and China were reported, and a stronger dollar resulted from North Korea delaying a decision to fire a missile toward Guam.
[52] On November 24, WTI reached $59.05, the highest in two years, due to the Keystone Pipeline closing, and optimism about the OPEC deal extension.
[57] Oil fell slightly on December 11 with WTI at $57.10 and Brent crude $63.08 as U.S. production reached levels not seen since the 1970s and the number of rigs continued to increase.
[61] With U.S. inventories the lowest in three years, and cold weather decreasing U.S. production, oil reached its highest price since December 2014 in mid-January.
[65] With reports of higher U.S. crude inventories, a stronger dollar and the stock market down (partly the result of the resignation of Gary Cohn), oil fell 2% March 7, with WTI reaching $61.21 and Brent $64.34.
[69] On April 11, with the United States planning a response to the Douma chemical attack in the Syrian Civil War, WTI ended the day at $66.82, with Brent at $72.04, both the highest since December 2014.
The threat of more sanctions on Iran, the lowest OPEC petroleum stocks in three years, and supply problems in Venezuela were reasons.
[75] With OPEC's announcement that it would keep production low through the rest of 2018, WTI rose from its lowest close since April 17 to finish May 30 at $68.21 after five straight days of decline, the longest streak since February.
[77] On June 22, WTI finished at $68.58, up 4.6%, and Brent was up 3.4% to $75.55, after OPEC said it would cut production, and U.S. supplies fell with the first reduction in the number of rigs in three months.
Factors included threats to supplies from Libya and proposed sanctions on countries importing oil from Iran.
[79] With expectations of increased production worldwide, Brent dropped more than 2% on July 2 to $77.30, while WTI fell slightly to $73.94 due to lower U.S. supplies and Libya exports.
Brent fell 2.3% to $75.33 after reaching $73.40 on July 11, a day when the return of oil from Libya and a change in attitudes toward Iran sanctions led to a nearly 7% drop.
Brent was also down a few cents to $75.95 after the highest finish since July 10. sanctions on Iran and problems in Libya and Venezuela kept prices high.
[89] With OPEC production up, on October 4, WTI fell by the largest percentage in a day since August but still ended higher for the fourth week in a row, at $74.90.
[91] With the fourth increase in U.S. crude supplies, and despite lower production due to Hurricane Michael, on October 18 WTI closed at $68.65, the lowest since September 13, after falling 4% over 2 days.
This along with the highest OPEC production since 2016 led to WTI dropping 2.5% on November 1 to $63.69, its lowest finish since April, after falling 10.8% in October.
Reasons included an increase in U.S. oil rigs and efforts to get around Venezuela sanctions, as well as concerns over actions by OPEC nations.
Both fell slightly April 15, WTI to $63.40 and Brent to $71.18, after a report Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov wondered if his country should continue participating in OPEC's lower production goals.
[109] The third week of April, though short because of the Good Friday holiday, ended with WTI at $64 for its seventh gain for the first time since February 2014.
Though WTI fell due to higher U.S. crude supplies, Brent reached the highest close since October on April 24 before falling to $74.35 the next day.
[112] WTI fell for the third week, to $61.66 with Brent falling to $70.62 after Trump's tariffs on imports from China increased, despite lower U.S. crude inventories.
Reasons for the jump included expectations of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates and Iran shooting down a drone.
[118] Oil ended higher for the third of four weeks on July 12, WTI at $60.21 and Brent at $66.72 because of problems in the Middle East, lower U.S. inventories and Hurricane Barry.