1%). In May 2015, Brent crude oil prices, correcting after the collapse in 2014-early 2015, came close to the $70 per barrel mark and remained in the $60-70 range for two months. However, this was the last chord before another powerful price collapse. Despite the reduction in drilling rigs in the US, the volumes of reserves in the country demonstrated growing dynamics from time to time. Saudi Arabia also added fuel to the fire, systematically reducing prices, seeking to increase its share of the world market. In turn, neither OPEC nor Russia were going to reduce production volumes. In addition, many oil traders were worried about Iran's return to the world oil market, the slowdown in China's economic growth, and the strengthening dollar everywhere.
In November 2015, Brent prices confidently croatia telegram consolidated below the technically important $46.5 per barrel mark. And after the OPEC meeting held on December 4, 2015, prices fell below the lows reached earlier in August. below $37 per barrel. The Organization of Exporting Countries decided to abandon oil production quotas, which provoked this decline. The last straw was the lifting by the United States of the ban on oil exports from the country, which had been in effect for the past 40 years. Thus, the United States of America sent oil prices into a "knockout" until their decline leads to the strongest reductions in global oil production and investment in the development of new fields.
Thus, as of December 18, the decline in prices for "black gold" since the beginning of the year was about 37%. Meanwhile, the Russian ruble fell to 71 rubles per US dollar in mid-December 2015 following oil prices. In 2015, after the introduction of a floating exchange rate a year earlier, the ruble became heavily dependent on the dynamics of "black gold" prices. Experts predict high volatility for the ruble, as well as oil prices, in 2016. At the same time, the Russian economy will have a hard time in 2016. The country's budget was adopted with a deficit of about 3%, and this is based on average prices of $50 per barrel, which is currently seen as a very optimistic scenario.