The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on February 19, 2021 in a Facebook post: “Oil is now $61.30 a barrel and rising drastically! On Jan. 5, it was about $25 a barrel.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Energy * Trade * Facebook Fact-checks * Facebook posts ![\\"Tom](\\" By Tom Kertscher February 24, 2021 # Yes, oil is about $61 a barrel, but it rose from about $50 since Jan. 5, not $25 #### If Your Time is short * Neither of the two primary benchmarks for crude oil have been in the $25 per barrel range since May 2020. * Both benchmarks were roughly in the $61 range at the time of the Facebook post. But that’s up from about $50 — not $25 — on Jan. 5. See the sources for this fact-check A widely shared Facebook post would have you believe the price of oil more than doubled in six weeks since early January. That would be a remarkable spike, if it were true. But it isn’t. The price did rise in those six weeks — but by about 18%. The Feb. 19 post claimed: \"Oil is now $61.30 a barrel & rising drastically! On Jan 5th, it was about $25.00 a barrel Are you awake yet? Gas & milk going up too.\" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The latest daily prices for two benchmark products is roughly in the $61 range on the spot market. But neither benchmark has been in the $25 range since May 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. At that time, oil prices were hammered by plummeting demand due to world-wide shutdowns to deal with the pandemic. The daily spot price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, trended upward from $49.78 per barrel on Jan. 5 to $59.12 on Feb. 19. That’s an increase of 18.8%. West Texas Intermediate hasn’t been in the $25 range since the price was $25.37 on May 13, 2020. The daily price of Europe Brent crude, the global benchmark, also trended upward, from $53.16 on Jan. 5 to $62.84 on Feb. 19. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeffrey Barke stated on August 23, 2024 in an Instagram post Food and Drug Administration approval for updated COVID-19 vaccines requires a public health emergency declaration. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • August 27, 2024 That’s an increase of 18.2%. Brent Europe was last in the $25 range on May 11, 2020, when it was $25.53. The price increases are generally attributed to optimism regarding a world economic recovery, and expected demand rising faster than had been previously expected, among other factors, said economics professor Robert Godby, deputy director of the University of Wyoming\'s Center for Energy Regulation and Policy. Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, said prices increased because of optimism about post-COVID-19 demand recovery and because of OPEC production cuts. Stacey Morris, director of research at Alerian, which tracks energy and other investment markets, said a number of factors have contributed to the gain in oil prices, \"but a near-term tightening in supply has been a key driver.\" Morris said that on Jan. 5, Saudi Arabia announced that it would make additional production cuts of 1 million barrels per day for February and March. And she said severe winter weather during the week of Feb. 15, particularly in Texas, temporarily reduced oil production by more than 1 barrels per day. Richard Swann, global director of clean refined products at S&P Global Platts, an energy analytics firm, also cited the OPEC cuts and the severe U.S. weather as among the key factors. Our ruling A Facebook post claimed: \"Oil is now $61.30 a barrel and rising drastically! On Jan. 5, it was about $25 a barrel.\" The latest prices for two major benchmarks as of the date of the post were roughly in the range of $61. But that was up from about $50, not $25, on Jan. 5. We rate the post False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Facebook post, Feb. 19, 2021 U.S. Energy Information Administration, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices, Jan. 5 to Feb. 19, 2021 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Europe Brent crude oil prices, Jan. 5 to Feb. 19, 2021 Email, Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, Feb. 24, 2021 Email, economics professor Robert Godby, deputy director of the University of Wyoming\'s Center for Energy Regulation and Policy, Feb. 24, 2021 Email, Stacey Morris, director of research at Alerian, Feb. 24, 2021 Email, Richard Swann, global director, clean refined products, S&P Global Platts, Feb. 24, 2021 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Tom Kertscher slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2023 in an Instagram post: A wind turbine must “spin continually for over four years just to replace the energy it took to manufacture it.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 15, 2023 in un video en TikTok: \"Biden elimina ‘tráfico sexual de menores’ como una de las prioridades del Departamento de Justicia de su gobierno”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • July 25, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 17, 2023 in an Instagram post: \"Florida to ban mRNA vaccines as credible evidence of biological weapons.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 18, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video suggests Canada wildfires were deliberately set to advance “smart cities” push. ![\\"false\\"](\\" 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between COVID-19 vaccines and multiple sclerosis. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 9, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video shows military planes over Nashville \"dispersing materials into the atmosphere\" for geoengineering. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 23, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 20, 2023 in a Facebook post: “Official statement — Putin assassinated in the Kremlin!” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Tom Kertscher • August 22, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 8, 2023 in a Facebook post: \"The federal government has just declared a major food shortage emergency\" in six states. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 16, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Steve Kirsch stated on August 8, 2023 in a blog post: COVID-19 vaccines have killed 676,000 Americans. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Tom Kertscher • August 14, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 6, 2023 in a viral image: California passed a law “reducing penalties for oral, anal sex with willing children.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 9, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on June 22, 2023 in a post: A new law allows people to permanently erase unpaid debt older than two years from their credit records. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 1, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 28, 2023 in a video: “Skin cancer is a relatively new phenomenon in the last 60 years or so.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 1, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Says Bill Gates said, “We’re taking things that are genetically modified organisms, and we’re injecting them into little kids’ arms” in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 31, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2023 in an Instagram post: A wind turbine must “spin continually for over four years just to replace the energy it took to manufacture it.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 15, 2023 in un video en TikTok: \"Biden elimina ‘tráfico sexual de menores’ como una de las prioridades del Departamento de Justicia de su gobierno”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" 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Oil is now 6130 a barrel and rising drastically On Jan 5 it was about 25 a barrel