Fox’s “news side” anchor Bret Baier airs misleading graphs about crude oil and natural gas prices

Continuing Fox News’ tradition of airing false or misleading information and graphics, Special Report anchor Bret Baier last night displayed suspiciously truncated graphs plotting the change in prices of natural gas and crude oil.

The graphs spanned from 2019 to 2021, a notably short snapshot in time, in order to further the narrative that commodities prices have increased dramatically under the Biden administration. But these graphs ignore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made commodity prices fall drastically in 2020. Fox News is trying to sensationalize dismal global prices amid a pandemic and erroneously blame these numbers on one nation’s president.

Graph showing crude oil prices based on Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) from 2019 to 2021

Citation Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier

Graph showing crude oil prices based on Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) from 2019 to 2021, aired by Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier on September 28, 2021. 

Graph showing natural gas prices from 2019 to 2021

Citation Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier

Graph showing natural gas prices from 2019 to 2021, aired by Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier on September 28, 2021. 

The crude oil graph cites Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) for oil prices, but a 10- or 25-year timespan would have painted a much more accurate view of crude oil price fluctuations. Truthfully, current prices of crude oil seem to be skyrocketing because the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed global trade and travel since 2020. And Baier was correct to point out that prices for natural gas have been increasing for three years, but it would have been more accurate to note that natural gas prices have reached a seven-year high, showing that this increasing trend is not new.

graph showing crude oil prices over 25 years, in 2021 the crude oil price is about $80 per barrel

Citation Trading Economics

Graph showing crude oil prices over 25 years; the crude oil price is roughly $80 per barrel in 2021.

graph showing 25 year history of natural gas prices, in 2021 the price is about 6 USD/MMBtu 

Citation Trading Economics

Graph showing the 25 years of natural gas prices; in 2021, the price is about $6 USD/MMBtu. 

Here is the segment:

Video file

Citation From the September 28, 2021, edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier