by David Forest
Casey Research
The day we published our prediction series last year in Strategic Investor (current subscribers can review it here), WTI crude oil closed at $58.46 per barrel. We called it higher in 2021, based on a weakening dollar and resilient global demand.
We were very wrong.
Crude was rallying in January, topping $60. But as COVID news took hold, it dropped back to $50. By early March, it slid to $40.
Then all hell broke loose. With lockdown orders coming, crude plunged to $20 per barrel. Futures even briefly reached negative prices, hitting a stunning -$36.98 on April 20.
That distortion aside, prices bottomed around $15 per barrel in late April. The last time oil traded at $15, Bill Clinton was in office and Harvey Weinstein won an Oscar for producing Shakespeare in Love.