Explained: Why are crude oil prices high, and any relief in sight?

Anyone who’s bought food, paid rent or looked for a used car recently has come up against the billowing inflation that has engulfed the U.S. economy.

And, with surging oil prices keeping gasoline high, so has anyone who’s filled up a car.

Energy costs have been one of the main drivers of what’s become the highest inflation in a generation. In recent days, the price of a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude oil hit a seven-year high $87 a barrel, a dizzying jump of about 36% since Dec. 1.

That price spike reversed a nearly equally steep plunge that began in late October. Because oil has a direct effect on the prices of gasoline and home heating oils, consumers have been battered by the wild volatility.