Oil prices saw a slight increase on the first trading day of 2026, following their largest annual decline since 2020. This rise was influenced by Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil facilities and U.S. sanctions impacting Venezuela's oil exports. Both Brent crude and U.S. WTI futures experienced modest gains. The previous year saw significant annual losses for oil benchmarks, attributed to oversupply concerns outweighing geopolitical risks, marking the third consecutive year of losses for Brent.