Oil prices bubble ahead of OPEC meeting

Oil prices are rising ahead of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting on Thursday.

Crude values sank across the board after OPEC delayed the event on Nov. 22 but are spiking this week with prices on Wednesday morning going above $77 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate, and Brent Crude rose to nearly $83.

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Meanwhile, oil stocks such as ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and Diamondback Energy have mirrored the fall in crude prices over the last 30 days.

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"U.S. shale production, OPEC's nemesis before COVID, is back," VP of market intelligence at the TradeStation Group David Russell told FOX Business. "Venezuela is also returning to the scene after Biden lifted sanctions and Chinese demand remains tepid."

The latest data from Climate Transparency shows the U.S. is on pace to extract a record amount of oil and gas in 2023, while the online research platform Statista forecasts shale gas and tight oil production in the U.S. will jump to nearly 35 trillion cubic feet by 2050.

Last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said roughly 2.84 billion barrels of crude oil were produced directly from tight-oil resources in the U.S.

"OPEC can talk all they want, but these hard realities are hitting them where it hurts, while the bigger forces could keep downward pressure on prices," Russell added. "This potentially could be good news for both Main Street and Wall Street because lower gasoline prices could boost holiday spending and lower inflation. OPEC's pain could be America's gain."

As the holidays get underway, seasonal travelers might have more room in the wallet for gifts, with oil and gas prices potentially falling even lower.

On Tuesday, the median U.S. gas price fell to $3.00 per gallon, while the national average slipped to $3.20 per gallon, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, posted on X.

The latest report from AAA showed pump prices on average are 26 cents less than a month ago and 40 cents less than a year ago. Since reaching its peak in 2023, the national average has either fallen or remained flat for 60 straight days, AAA noted.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department's November report showed that the consumer price index , a broad measure of the price of everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rents, was unchanged in October from the previous month, but prices were up 3.2% on an annual basis.