SO, petrol pump prices are now back to roughly the same levels as they were this time last year, after a year of extraordinary price increases and equally spectacular falls.
Is this a sign of things to come?
For most of my life the doomsayers have been predicting that oil will soon run out and those voices have become louder over the last 12 months.
Some commentators have suggested that we may already be at the peak of oil production, which could suggest that the price increases we saw during the earlier part of the year becoming a normal part of life over the next few years.
The true picture of oil supply and demand is likely to be very complex, making future predictions extremely difficult.
Looking at this year's situation simplistically, when prices increased so quickly during the course of the year, demand for oil fell away, which then sent prices tumbling.
Of course, in the bigger picture the price of oil was only part of the squeeze on people's everyday finances, which has affected the prices of almost every consumable.
Price volatility is perhaps a more likely scenario than constantly rising prices as oil production slows.
With oil production potentially slowing and prices rising, this could mean the development of alternatives more quickly than we might imagine.
Old technology such as gasification of coal to produce similar fuels to "town gas" might once again be revisited, as well as renewable energy and nuclear power.
The watchword for the future is likely to be diversification as nations look to have a range of energy sources and move away from oil-based technologies.
The other development that we are likely to see is the widening search for oil, which will almost certainly conflict with wildlife habitats, native peoples and areas of natural beauty.
Ultimately, if we have reached peak oil production or will get to that point in the near future, life without oil could be reality in our children's lifetimes.
That is scarily close and should be focusing minds.
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