World oil prices fall to lowest level in nearly 5 years

A growing crude oil glut coupled with concerns about the global economy has sent crude prices to their lowest levels since the energy market recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic crash.

Illustration photo: THX/TTXVN

According to a VNA reporter in New York, at the end of the trading session on October 16, the price of US light sweet crude oil (WTI) for delivery in December 2025 fell to 56.99 USD/barrel, down 2.2% compared to the opening time of the session and down 19% compared to the same period last year, the lowest level since February 2021.

This week’s decline has pushed oil prices lower than they were during the spring selloff, when President Donald Trump announced plans for reciprocal tariffs, raising concerns about global economic instability. Falling oil prices are good news for American consumers, as cheaper crude oil drives down the prices of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and heating oil. But it’s a worrying sign for the U.S. oil industry, which is seeing shrinking profit margins and thousands of job cuts.

Oil prices have fallen due to a number of factors. The most prominent are concerns about oversupply and the risk of a resurgence of the US-China trade war. The International Energy Agency (IEA) and many other energy market forecasting organizations believe that the oversupply will increase in the coming months, as producers from the Middle East to Texas continue to pump oil into the market despite sharp price drops. The latest data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that US oil production reached a new record of more than 13.6 million barrels per day in July 2025.

At the same time, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners, known as OPEC+, reversed their decision to cut production, a process that had been initiated since 2023, when oil prices fell from their peak after the conflict in Ukraine. OPEC's goal was to regain market share from independent producers in the US, Brazil, Guyana and other countries, rivals that OPEC had repeatedly faced in oil price wars over the past decade.

In addition, the US-China trade tensions have also created new concerns, threatening the global economic growth outlook. The world's two largest economies have issued a series of warning statements and tough actions in response to each other in the past week.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thi-truong-tien-te/gia-dau-the-gioi-giam-xuong-muc-thap-nhat-trong-gan-5-nam-20251017074025946.htm