The price of a barrel of Brent was down slightly on Friday, suffering profit taking after three consecutive sessions of increases, while the WTI market was closed on Christmas Eve.

Around 11:45 am, a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in February lost 1.05% to 76.04 dollars. New studies have shown in particular that the risk of hospitalization is lower than with previous forms of the coronavirus, even if its rapid and massive spread could put health systems under great strain. Investors are also starting to look towards the next summit of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies via the OPEC+ agreement, which will be held on January 4.

The very volatile European gas price continued to fall from its historic peak hit on Tuesday, at 187.785 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). The reference market, the Dutch TTF (Title Transfer Facility), dropped around 10:45 GMT by 17.44% to 109.45 euros