Last year we witnessed a relentlessly bullish crude oil market that showed a 70 per cent rise in the WTI spot price, culminating in a record high of $100.09 a barrel last month. And then prices began to move the other way, with spot crude declining by about 7.3 per cent to less than $90 a barrel on Monday.

The recent decision by Opec, the oil producers’ cartel, to leave its production level unchanged, in spite of pleas by consumer countries for a boost, was taken partly on the perception of a softer market.