Title: Why Crude Oil Prices Fall: 5 Lessons from the Past
Headings: Why the Price of Crude Oil Dropped in 2015
Why the Price of Crude Oil Dropped in 2015
The Strong US Dollar
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Global Production
The Economy
The Iran Nuclear Deal

Content: The Strong US Dollar
The strong U.S. dollar was the main driver for the price decline of crude oil in 2015. In fact, the dollar was at a 12-year high against the euro, leading to appreciation in the U.S. dollar index and a reduction in oil prices. That put the market under a lot of pressure because commodity prices are usually in dollars and fall when the U.S. dollar is strong. For example, the surge in the dollar in the second half of 2014 caused a sharp fall in leading commodity indexes. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Another leading factor in the sharp price drop of crude oil in 2015 is that OPEC, a cartel of oil producers, was unwilling to stabilize or otherwise "prop up" oil markets. Prices of OPEC’s benchmark crude oil had fallen a whopping 50% since the organization decided against cutting production at a 2014 meeting in Vienna. Global Production
Crude futures declined in late-September 2015 when it became clear that oil stockpiles were growing amid increased production. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on September 30, 2015, that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose by 4.5 million barrels from the previous week. At almost 500 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were at their highest level in at least the last 80 years. Total oil production by the end of 2015 was expected to increase to more than 9.35 million barrels per day —higher than previous forecasts of 9.3 million barrels per day.