Brent crude falls nearly 10%, OPEC basket drops slightly
Saudi Arabia has acted to keep prices high recently against the wishes of the US.
Global oil prices have fallen significantly in recent days.
The price of Brent crude oil — considered the global benchmark for oil prices — fell to $100.85 a barrel at around 5 a.m. ET. This constituted a fall of more than 4% on the day at the time. Brent crude prices were down more than 9.9% in the past five days at the time, according to market data.
The price of the daily basket for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) closed at $107.66 a barrel on Friday, according to official data. This constituted a less than 1% drop from the day before.
Why it matters: The price of Brent crude oil skyrocketed to more than $139 a barrel in March in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prices dropped below $100 on April 11, then started going up again. Prices have again been dropping since last week.
