Crude oil prices have been on a volatile roll since November 2014. Between November 2014 and January 2016, the price of Brent Crude fell from $112/bbl to a low of $26/bbl. After touching a low of $26/bbl, crude has bounced back on hopes that further US rate hikes will bring growth back to the economy. The next big boost to oil prices came in when the OPEC and a group of friendly nations decided to impose voluntary supply cuts on crude oil. The agreement was that OPEC members would cut output by 1.2 million bpd while friendly nations like Russia and Mexico will cut another 0.6 million bpd, resulting in a total supply cut of 1.8 million bpd. This led to global oil prices bouncing back from $44/bbl in late November 2016 to a high of $55/bbl as the supply cuts actually started to bring about greater equilibrium between demand and supply for crude oil.

nuances of the Crude Oil Futures contract

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