Key numbers

摘要

Crude oil prices were held in a tight collar around USD80/bbl (USD520/tonne) for most of Q110. With some short exceptions, oil stayed within a few dollars of the psychologically important level. Only after April did prices appear at last to have generated sufficient momentum to break out of the collar, as more and more economies in the world showed 'green shoots' of fresh economic activity. Oil prices were caught in a grip between confidence in the speed of the recovery in global economies and the strength of the dollar. The sovereign debt problem experienced by Greece pulled down the value of the euro against the dollar too, taking oil prices with it.