Oil prices plummeted over the year

The Brent barrel price of the North Sea, quoted on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) of London, tumbled 19.5% over the year. On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a barrel of light sweet crude (WTI) saw its share collapse by 24.8% over the last 12 months.

This decline in prices has particularly increased from October, just after they have risen to their highest levels in four years: the fall "was particularly fast and strong," says Mike Lynch, badyst from the SEER cabinet.

The market has been plagued by growing concerns over an oversupply in the global market compared to energy demand under pressure.

These fears, exacerbated in particular by the swelling of American oil production at historically high levels and the specter of a global economic slowdown, have caused Brent and WTI prices to lose more than a third of their value in the space of three months.

Moreover, "it was the year of the tweet: President (American Donald) Trump first sent the courses to highs in four years, before tweeting again and lose all their annual gains markets" says Phil Flynn, an badyst at Price Futures Group, noting that this is the first annual decline in prices since 2015.

Donald Trump dangled the end of Iran's oil exports as part of heightened US sanctions, and so boosted prices in the first half of the year – as this would reduce the global supply available.

But the White House host then sparked the opposite effect on the markets, when he finally granted exemptions to eight countries.

Trump had previously lobbied members of the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) to maintain high production, with the aim of lowering the price of gasoline for American motorists … a situation that has reinforced the overabundance of crude supply.

The announcement by OPEC and its Russian partner of a reduction of 1.2 million barrels per day of their production at the end of the year will not have been enough to stop the slide in prices.