In analyzing both the supply/demand imbalance of oil, and to a lesser extent natural gas, what still befuddles both expert professionals, as well as casual observers are both the speed and the intensity with which the price of global crude oil dropped from $100 a barrel at mid-year 2014 to the low $40s by the end of January 2015.
Although leading energy observers foresaw neither the sheer volume of the price drop, nor the speed with which it occurred, there are several key reasons that now stand out in hindsight. Most amazingly, these caused a perfect storm of simultaneity that added to the dislocation that these critical factors caused.