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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Crude prices climbed in mid-April to their highest level this year, and gasoline prices followed suit, but industry analysts say oil markets remain saturated and downward pressure on prices will continue well into 2016.

“It’s a roller coaster,” said Daniel Fine, associate director at the New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology’s Center for Energy Policy. “We’re just not seeing enough of a decline in oil output to stabilize prices, at least for the rest of 2015.”

And it’s unclear when in 2016 — or by how much — prices might rebound.

“The question now is whether price volatility will resemble a ‘V’ with a sharp decline followed by a sharp rebound, an ‘L’ that reflects a price plummet and then a flatline, or a ‘W’ with prices continually going up and down,” Royola Dougher, senior economic adviser for the American Petroleum Association, told the Journal.

Between October and January, the price for benchmark West Texas Intermediate dropped by more than half, from above $100 per barrel to below $50, thanks to soaring domestic U.S. production that has saturated the world market, plus an unprecedented decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to no longer cut their output to boost prices as they’ve done in the past.

Prices hit bottom in January at just above $43, and then fluctuated up and down through March in a general range of $45 to $55. In April, the price climbed a bit higher, to about $57 per barrel on Friday.

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That — combined with a slight drop in gasoline supplies at U.S. refineries this month and a small increase in consumer demand — has pushed gasoline prices up about 9 cents per gallon in the last week. The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded reached $2.51 on Friday, and $2.37 in New Mexico.

But rather then continue to climb, crude and gasoline prices are expected to recede again in the coming weeks. That’s because much of the bump came from instability in Yemen, which has temporarily rattled financial markets, and because U.S. production isn’t declining fast enough to lower world supply, Fine said. OPEC has also increased its own output, largely offsetting the slowdown in the U.S.

Meanwhile, U.S. producers are poised to rapidly ramp up production again as soon as prices climb, creating a consistent downward lever that could prevent price recovery for quite awhile.

“Many companies have adopted a ‘deferment strategy’ where they hold off completing wells that are already drilled and then bring them online as soon as prices climb,” Fine said. “That’s the real roller coaster we’re facing.”