Recently, over the past week, there has been a significant drop in international crude oil prices.

A week ago, the WTI crude oil price was still above $80, but as of yesterday, it touched the $70 mark at its lowest, with only one trading day showing an increase during the week, and the overall decline has exceeded 12.5%.

Since December of last year, crude oil prices have fluctuated within the range of $70 to $80, but recently they have approached the $70 mark very closely, and it is quite possible that they will break through this threshold, forming a trend of further decline.

The trend of Brent crude oil prices is similar; yesterday it fell by 3.9% throughout the day, dropping to a low of $76.89, just a step away from the previous low of $75.1 billion.

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Why has the crude oil price suddenly dropped?

It seems to be greatly related to the rumored dissatisfaction of the United States with OPEC, and some media even analyze that it is not ruled out that the United States will exert pressure on OPEC or impose corresponding sanctions.

In essence, the effect of the price cap has been far from the expectations, leading to the United States' extreme dissatisfaction, which then shifts to OPEC.

But the problem is that the price cap only brought satisfaction to the G7 alliance, but it did not actually pose any threat to Russian oil. Since the price of Russian oil has been below the price cap standard ($60) for a long time, the price cap has no impact on Russia.However, some argue that data can serve as strong evidence of the detrimental effects of price caps on Russian oil, with Russia's oil and energy revenue falling nearly 48% in the first two months of this year. This sufficiently demonstrates the power of the price cap.

At this point, others have stepped forward to argue that the current sanctions against Russia are not strong enough and that the pace of sanctions should be accelerated. They suggest halving the price cap benchmark again, to $30 per barrel.

However, the United States is well aware that no matter how the price cap is escalated, if it is just playing a solo act, the effect will not be good.

After the previous price cap was introduced, Russia decided to cut production. To the United States' great frustration, OPEC did not increase production in response but continued to maintain its previous decision to cut production.

The reduction in oil supply has led to an upward push in oil prices, which is a huge disruption to the price cap.

As a result, the United States has shifted its dissatisfaction to OPEC.

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But, did the sudden plunge in crude oil prices really come from the United States' warning to OPEC?

Obviously not, the most fundamental reason lies in the fact that the United States may have already fallen into a recession, affecting global crude oil demand.

Starting from last week, several banks in the United States went bankrupt one after another, triggering a huge storm in the U.S. financial industry.The White House, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and other official institutions in the United States have intervened in this crisis, hoping to prevent further escalation and block the impact on the entire financial industry and the economy.

However, it now appears that achieving such an effect is not easy.

Goldman Sachs has already made adjustments to its forecasts, suggesting that in the face of the ongoing crisis, the Federal Reserve may have no choice but to abandon further interest rate hikes in March.

Some American economists have also pointed out that the issue is no longer one of hard or soft landings; it is quite possible that the United States has suddenly fallen into a recession.

Perhaps this is the most fundamental reason for the blow to oil prices.