Crude oil prices have tanked to their lowest levels since Russia's invasion of Ukraine

The price of oil has fallen to its lowest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The US West Texas Intermediate is down about 10% this week. At 12:14 a.m., they were selling at $88.98 a barrel. On Friday

The benchmark international crude oil futures settled at $94.12 a barrel, down 2% from the previous day. At 12:14 a.m., the price was $94.22 a barrel. On Friday

The grades spiked to over $120 a barrel after Russia invaded Ukrainian.

The fall in oil prices comes as a relief for consumers who are already battling soaring inflation, with the average gas price in the US falling for 49 days in a row. More than half of the country's gas stations are now selling gas for less than $4 a gallon, according to President Joe Biden.

Even before the war in Ukraine, energy prices were going up fast because of a resurgence in demand. Russia is a major oil supplier and price gains were extended because of this.

As energy inflation climbed, the Federal Reserve started hiking rates, which made borrowing for anything from mortgages to credit cards more expensive and encouraged people to save, which in theory, helps bring down prices.

It takes a while for the effects to be felt and the risk is that the central bank raises rates to the point where the economy slows down and even goes into recession.

Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a Friday note that there was demand-side drag on commodities. The case in point is that crude oil seemed to have caught the attention of the market as prices fell.