19. Recent developments

At a time when the energy market seemed set to stabilize, with fossil fuel prices in line with producers' capacities and consumers' needs, while maintaining the rapid development of renewable energies, the situation on the oil market has been turned upside down by the US President's initiatives.

As already mentioned, the price of oil collapsed in 2014, as a result of a potential oversupply of crude in relation to demand. Oil prices remained low, even very low, in 2015 and 2016 (down to $30 per barrel, compared with over $100 two years earlier). Saudi Arabia's policy of trying to maintain its market share has resulted in low prices and a budget deficit (of around $100 billion) that is impossible to maintain over the long term. At the end of 2016, producers agreed to regulate the market. OPEC decided to cut production by around 5%, and in the wake of the OPEC agreement,...