Via Kate Dourian in agsiw.org: With all the uncertainty clouding the picture, OPEC+ adopted a cautious approach throughout 2024, maintaining production levels without change in efforts to balance the market and prop up prices that were weighed down by tepid Chinese demand and higher non-OPEC+ output, mainly from the United States. It was largely successful in preventing what some analysts expected would be a slide below $70 per barrel. Benchmark Brent crude oil averaged $80.91/bbl as of December with prices trading within a tight range between $71/bbl and $74/bbl in the final trading days of the year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has forecast that Brent crude oil prices will end the year at an average $80.49/bbl, falling to an average $73.58/bbl in 2025.
