Price At The Pump: The Biggest Story For Oil Prices In 2025

It appears that oil prices will close 2025 slightly higher, week over week, but much lower than where prices started the year. Patrick DeHaan with Gasbuddy.com says there were two key international issues that pushed oil prices lower in 2025; the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as OPEC's progressive increase in oil production.

But that changes in 2026.

“OPEC is agreeing to pause the increases in production for the first three months, which certainly from that perspective makes a lot of sense as oil demand globally tends to be weaker in the Northern Hemisphere winter," DeHaan said. "So for now, oil prices still relatively low. That's opened the door for falling gasoline and diesel prices, as well as jet fuel prices nearly coast to coast with Americans and now nearly a dozen states able to fill up at at least the cheapest station for below the $2 a gallon mark.”

As of Tuesday morning, West Texas Crude and Brent Crude were both trading slightly high, at $58 and $62 per barrel respectively.

News That Impacted Oil Prices

When it comes to the top news stories for 2025, DeHaan said the lack of turbulence, or price moment, is really what sticks out to him.

“And it's been a remarkably balanced year," DeHaan added. "Gasoline prices nationally in the U.S. remaining between a range of $2.75 to as much as $3.20, a relatively tight range and a very quiet year. We didn't see much of a seasonal increase in the spring, but now we're starting to see a big seasonal decrease in the fall. So, it's been a pretty quiet year.”

DeHaan added some have said these lower gasoline prices in the U.S. indicate a looming recession. However, he said he doesn't see a recession in the cards, noting that gasoline demand is seasonally strong.