Oil rally loses steam but ended the year with biggest annual gains since 2016

International benchmarks for crude oil fell on Friday, 31 December 2021 despite a comment from OPEC+ that the impact on the oil market from the Omicron coronavirus variant to be mild and temporary. However, Brent posted an annual gain of 50.5% - the biggest since 2016 while WTI concluded the year with a 55.5% gain. 

Brent loses $1.75 or 2.2% to close at $77.78/barrel. 

WTI dropped $1.78 or 2.3% to settle at $75.21/barrel.