Brent Closes The Year Below $80 as Red Sea Tensions Ease

Oil prices recouped some losses on the last trading day of the year with Brent crude set to close well below $80 per barrel. The slowing down of industry news into the Christmas period has stemmed the recent uptick in oil prices. Brent futures have marginally declined to $78 per barrel after Maersk and CMA CGM announced their resumption of transit through the Suez Canal, widely seen as a sign of impending normalization. At the same time, the few market participants still trading before New Year’s Eve shrugged off the seemingly bullish 7-million-barrel…