Global Oil Market: Main Trends 2018

Yury N. Bobylev – Head of Mineral Sector Economics Department of the Gaidar Institute; Leading Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Russian crude oil gained 33.5% in value from the previous year, settling at an average of $70.9/ per barrel in the period between January and November 2018. The increase stemmed from, among other things, a cooperative agreement to limit oil production, known as OPEC+. Global oil prices dropped considerably in recent months. The parties to the agreement decided in December 2018 to cut their oil production early in 2019. The agreement may, however, have a far less pronounced effect because of increase in the U.S. shale oil production. Oil prices in 2019 are projected to be far below the average seen in 2018.

Key words: oil, world oil market, global oil prices, OPEC, OPEC+.