Following protests spearheaded by powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr, Iraqi Oil Minister Abd al-Mahdi announced his resignation at the end of last month, suspending his activities as Minister and delegating responsibility to his deputy.

The rollercoaster ride continues as oil prices reached their highest point in 2016 at $40 per barrel this week — before slipping right back down again.

Picking up where last year left off, 2016 has seen sanctions lifted against Iran amid the implosion of Saudi-Iranian diplomatic relations while the first U.S. crude oil exports to Europe arrived amid the continued downward march of oil prices. Still to come is the highly anticipated first shipment of U.S. LNG exports from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass facility against the backdrop of questions about the future of European energy policy in the nascent Energy Union’s promised “Year of Delivery.”

This year droughts crippled California and heat waves claimed the lives of hundreds in India and Pakistan. Major flooding caught Texas by surprise and Yemen was hit, not once but twice, by deadly cyclones. Coincidence? The UN says maybe not.