On the oil markets on Tuesday, Brent Crude from the North Sea was trading at $92.71 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the New York Stock Exchange futures benchmark that's pumped in the Great Plains, was netting a lower $87.76 per barrel.
High oil prices have been blamed for high gasoline prices, and both trends have been blamed in the public eye for driving record inflation in the US and many other countries. However, an April study by the Economic Policy Institute found that corporate profits accounted for 54% of inflation in the United States in 2021 and 2022, meaning companies increasing their prices because consumers expect price increases have made inflation caused by other issues, such as pandemic-related expenses, to be twice as bad.