After increasing 6.2% in July, energy prices rose 7.8% month on month in August. This marked the second-fastest increase since May 2022 and brought energy prices to their highest level since February.
The rise in energy prices was driven by higher prices for crude oil, gasoline, gasoil, thermal coal and uranium. As in July, the increase was orchestrated by Russia and Saudi Arabia, who prolonged cuts to crude exports and output to August and promised they would continue in September. Meanwhile, pressure on the demand side likely came from seasonal travel and rising services activity. Overall, the global crude market likely fell into deficit in July and remained tightly balanced in August. That said, the rise in energy prices was likely capped by weak economic data for the Euro area and China. Meanwhile, U.S. natural gas prices were broadly stable in August as milder weather in the U.S. and weaker LNG exports weighed on demand.
This chart displays Brent Crude Oil (US$/bbl) from 2021 to 2023.
Energy Historical Price Data
| Q1 2021 | Q2 2021 | Q3 2021 | Q4 2021 | Q1 2022 | Q2 2022 | Q3 2022 | Q4 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European TTF Natural Gas | - | - | 16.9 | 31.4 | 31.5 | 32.0 | 60.5 | 36.9 |
| Brent Crude Oil | - | - | 73.3 | 79.7 | 98.0 | 112.1 | 97.7 | 88.6 |
| WTI Crude Oil | - | - | 70.6 | 77.3 | 94.9 | 108.9 | 93.2 | 82.7 |
| RBOB Gasoline | - | - | 2.3 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
| U.S. Henry Hub Natural Gas | - | - | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 6.1 |
| Australian Thermal Coal | - | - | 165.7 | 183.5 | 266.7 | 364.9 | 417.5 | 379.8 |
| Australian Coking Coal | - | - | 256 | 370 | 484 | 454 | 249 | 278 |
| Uranium U3O8 | - | - | 35.7 | 45.6 | 49.1 | 53.6 | 49.5 | 50.1 |
| European Gasoil 0.2% Sulfur | - | - | 592 | 672 | 894 | 1,178 | 1,064 | 994 |