Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With global production expected to increase, and with the U.S. increasingly energy independent, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) expects crude oil prices to linger in the upper $60 range next year.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, traded near $69 per barrel in pre-market trading early Wednesday, supported by rumors of a stimulus package for a Chinese economy still performing below post-pandemic expectations. China's economy is the second-largest, behind the U.S.