What to expect as oil gets dearer

Oil has risen by about 30% in just a few weeks. Matthew Lynn looks at the potential consequences of a higher oil price.

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If the oil price keeps rising, expect lots of crowing speeches from Nicola Sturgeon

Was that the shortest bear market in history? A few weeks ago the oil price was said to be heading down to $20 a barrel, or even less. The glut of oil would only increase as Iran rejoined the global economy, Saudi Arabia kept pumping furiously, and we would all go out and buy electric cars, slashing demand. Yet, in the background, the oil price has been quietly going back up and rapidly. From a low of $28 in January, Brent crude has rallied to $40. That's a rise of about 30% in just a few weeks.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.