On Monday, oil prices show a decline in quiet trading at the end of the year after the last week rally, which seems to have come to an end.
During the last week of this year, trading volumes are likely to remain reduced as many traders have closed positions on the eve of the holiday period, reducing liquidity in the market and increasing volatility.
During European morning trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude oil for February delivery fell 57 cents, or 1.51%, to $ 37.53 a barrel. New York trader crude oil futures soared $ 3.52, or 9.7%, the maximum weekly rate since the beginning of October.
Despite the rapid jump for the week, US crude can show approximately 27% decline this year amid concerns about excess domestic supplies of raw materials. Earlier this month, prices fell to $ 34.29, the lowest level since February 2009.
On the ICE exchange in London, Brent crude for February delivery fell 46 cents, or 1.21%, to $ 37.45 for a barrel. Last week, the London futures for Brent crude rose $ 1.34, or 2.74%, breaking a three-week series of declines.
In 2015, the price of Brent crude oil showed a decrease of 33% as concerns about oversupply dominated market sentiment for most of the year. On December 22, prices fell to $ 35.98, the lowest level since July 2004.
Oil prices fell sharply this month after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries did not manage to agree on reducing the surplus on the market.
The oil offer on the world market is still ahead of demand due to the boom in shale oil in the United States and after the adoption of the OPEC decision to maintain the current quota for the production of raw materials.
Meanwhile, today WTI price exceeds the price of Brent by $ 0.08 per barrel compared with $ 0.21 at the close of the previous session.
The American brand WTI, which was traditionally traded at a discount to Brent, has reduced the price gap with it after the decision of the Congress to abolish the 40-year-old ban on the export of oil, while the global oversupply will worsen in 2016 due to increased production in Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Oversupply of raw materials will continue to worsen as soon as Iran will return to the world oil market early next year after the lifting of Western sanctions. Analysts predict that the country can quickly ramp up production to a level of 500 000 barrels.