Oil Prices Climb After Christmas Eve Drop

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/oil-prices-climb-after-christmas-eve-drop-14820516

Oil prices climb on Wednesday, reversing a trend that saw crude benchmarks hit their lowest point in 17 months.

U.S. and Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, were both up more than 7%. Brent crude was up about 7.88% in late trading, while WTI crude climbed 8.58%.

Igor Sechin, head of Russia's Rosneft and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, said Wednesday the drop in global crude oil prices was due to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates last week.

Sechin also said he saw oil prices at $50-53 per barrel next year "under a conservative scenario," according to a Reuters story.

Oil prices have fallen by more than a third this quarter. Last week, the Federal Reserve raised rates by a quarter percentage point for the fourth time this year to a range of 2.25% to 2.50%.

Crude has been caught up in wider financial market issues, such as the U.S. government shutdown, higher U.S. interest rates, and the U.S.-China trade dispute, which shook investors.

On Monday, global oil markets extended their declines, taking crude prices to the lowest levels since July of last year.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) rose 2.77% to $67.32. Chevron (CVX) climbed 4.41% to $105.44. BP (BP) rose 2.63% to $37.62, while Royal Dutch Shell dipped slightly to $25.03.