Markets

Crude oil prices have seen significant fluctuations in the closing weeks of 2024, driven by a complex mix of economic factors, geopolitical risks, and shifting market sentiment.

The oil futures market saw mixed movements during the final week of Dec., influenced by a combination of geopolitical tensions, economic data, and supply concerns. 

Oil prices were highly volatile this week, driven by economic data, geopolitical risks, and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions.

In addition to the threat of more sanctions on Russia and Iran, oil futures were supported by the overthrow of Syrian President Assad and by promises from China that fiscal stimulus measures would be increased.

Some market watchers chose to focus on predictions of a supply overhang next year rather than on OPEC+ continuing to keep large volumes off of the market.

The deal between Israel and Hezbollah was seen as minimizing the potential for war-related supply disruptions in the region.

In addition to an escalation in Russia's war on Ukraine, an outage in the Johan Sverdrup oil field had traders fixated on real and potential supply disruptions.

Sharp day-on-day price drops on Monday and Friday were largely spurred by concerns about soft demand, particularly in China.

The biggest day-on-day increase was seen on Monday after OPEC+ opted to postpone its output hike by one more month.

Prices took a sharp dive after Israeli attacks on Iran avoided energy assets but a resurgence of tension related to the Middle East conflict later in the week was not able to bring about a week-on-week increase.