World oil prices are on track for their sharpest decline since 2020.

World oil price trends

World oil prices recorded a slight decline in trading on December 24, continuing a trend that has driven the market to its sharpest annual drop since 2020. Investors are weighing conflicting economic signals against the risk of supply disruptions.

At the close of trading, Brent crude fell $0.14 per barrel, or 0.2%, to $62.24 per barrel. Meanwhile, US WTI crude fell $0.03 per barrel, or 0.05%, closing at $58.29 per barrel.

Despite a recovery of about 6% since December 16th, Brent and WTI oil prices are still projected to fall by approximately 16% and 18% respectively for the entire year. This would be the deepest decline since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted global energy demand.

Factors affecting the market

According to IG analyst Tony Sycamore, oil prices received support from positive US economic data. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis, in its December 23rd report, showed that the country's GDP growth in the third quarter of 2025 reached 4.3%, the highest level since 2023, primarily driven by a recovery in consumer spending and exports.

However, concerns about a potential supply surplus next year remain a major factor putting pressure on prices. On the supply side, the market is closely monitoring disruption risks from Venezuela following US actions targeting its oil tankers. More than a dozen tankers are currently docked awaiting further instructions.

In addition, tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to impact energy infrastructure. Oil shipments from Kazakhstan via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) are expected to fall by about a third in December, to their lowest level since October 2024, following an attack on the CPC's main export port.

In the coming sessions, the market awaits the official inventory report from the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) for more data on the supply-demand balance.

Domestic fuel prices

In the domestic market, retail gasoline and diesel prices on December 25th were applied according to the price adjustment period from 3 PM on December 18th by the Ministry of Industry and Trade - Ministry of Finance. Accordingly, the prices of all gasoline and diesel products were adjusted downwards.

During this price adjustment period, the Inter-Ministerial Committee did not make any contributions to or use the Price Stabilization Fund for any petroleum products. Since the beginning of 2025, gasoline prices have undergone 48 adjustments, including 22 decreases, 20 increases, and 6 adjustments in the opposite direction.