Oil and gas prices started to build significant momentum in late 2021 and early 2022. Indeed, price inflation in this sector was one of the catalysts for the big shift in central bank policy in the developed world. The Bank of Canada (BoC) and its peers have sought to beat back inflation with the most aggressive interest rate tightening program in over 15 years.
The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading above US$80/barrel as of the early morning (pre-trading) on April 14. WTI Crude has slipped below the US$70 mark in the middle of March, but it has quickly bounced back after OPEC vowed to cut back on production. Moreover, Western Canadian Select (WCS) prices per barrel stood at $60 at the time of this writing. WCS also suffered a sharp dip in the middle of March as prices fell below $45/barrel.
Prices have rebounded nicely in late March and the first half of April. However, prices are still well off from the highs we saw in the summer of 2022. Is it worth tracking this market in this climate?
Investors who want to get in on oil may want to consider the Horizons Crude Oil ETF (TSX:HUC). This exchange-traded fund (ETF) seeks to track the performance of the Solactive Light Sweet Crude Oil Winter MD Rolling Futures Index ER. Shares of this ETF have climbed 3.7% so far in 2023 as of close on April 13. However, the ETF is still down 6.7% year over year.
