Oil prices recouped losses. Earlier in the week on Monday futures fell to their lowest level since 2009, as investors opened short positions in anticipation of lower prices in response to OPEC's decision last week to maintain current levels of production of 30 million barrels a day. In today's trading session Brent Crude gained +0.33% trading at USD70.77 a barrel, and WTI Crude added +0.60% currently quoted at USD67.28.

Yesterday the head of the International Energy Agency, Maria van der Hoeven said the fall in prices a serious challenge especially for companies that extract oil from unconventional sources. For example, the rapid growth of shale oil in the US, probably began to slow: according to Reuters, last month, the number of issued permits in the United States to drill new wells in shale deposits decreased by 15% compared with the previous month, according to the reduction in the number of permits issued on drilling in October.