Oh Come On!
Investor, Venture Capital Background
Oil's supply problem would outlast the US midterms, because four months is not long enough to restock without sending gasoline to $10. Replying to @sidprabhu, who asked whether the US would return to war after the midterms, Iran will also have restocked heavily by then, so a renewed war is doubtful while the oil problem remains. x.comÂ
Iran appears to want oil low enough for Americans to keep burning through supply, so that prices eventually spike massively and the US has to cave, a strategy the market is not pricing. Every day counts, so delays such as Iran's foreign minister postponing nuclear talks and sanctions relief until a final agreement add up. Whether the strategy works is uncertain. x.comÂ
Oil stays above $80 well past the midterms because the supply problem persists despite peace headlines. Ships are still attacked near Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the UAE; a reported US strike on Iran's Konarak Naval Base ended nearly seven weeks without US strikes. There is nobody in Iran who can sign a deal and end the conflict. x.comÂ
Oil traders anticipate a resumption of the Iran war after the midterm elections, favoring more upside for crude oil. After a bullish reversal off its 10-week moving average, the odds favor a continuation of the rally to the $110-120 range. x.comÂ
Crude oil faces near-term pressure as Trump said US-Iran talks were productive and pledged no strikes before the November 3 elections; Brent fell to $103.36. Supply risks persist, however, with attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz and 1.3 million barrels a day of Gulf of Mexico production shut in ahead of Hurricane Isaias. x.comÂ
Crude oil's safety buffer is draining at a record pace, so the next supply shock will hit a market with far less protection. The Iran war and near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz have removed over 1 billion barrels of supply, and Morgan Stanley estimates stockpiles fell about 4.8 million barrels a day from March 1 to April 25, a record. A record 400 million barrels of emergency reserves have been pledged, and inventories are near 2018 lows. Even if Hormuz reopens, restocking will add demand. … Show more
Crude oil's last cushion is gone as recovering demand squeezes constrained Middle East supply. Barclays puts China imports near pre-war levels at 10.5m b/d, India up 600,000 b/d year on year and Middle East flows at 84% of pre-war levels; US demand is recovering. After more than 500m barrels of inventory were drawn down, buyers are paying a $13/bbl premium for next-week cargoes over the front-month contract, versus under $4 a week into the war. x.comÂ
Crude oil should fall back into the $60s and likely well below over time once the Iran war is resolved. Middle East producers are overproducing but cannot export the barrels, so when the Strait fully reopens they will flood the market. Oil tried to break down from its trend line but was rejected, and bigger resolution news is likely needed to push it much lower. Cheaper oil would remove current inflation fears, setting up a deflationary boom. x.com x.comÂ
Oil is balanced on a very thin line between supply and demand, and the Iran conflict is a hostage standoff over 20% of the world's energy production. Nobody knows what happens next, but the situation looks extremely risky. A New York Post report on Iran conceding fails the sniff test, since that is Iran's only bargaining chip. The government is pushing oil down by shorting the front month, while the rest of the curve drifts rapidly higher. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Crude oil and the XLE energy-sector ETF would be buys on a pullback because uncertainty over a real military strike could hang over the US market from the midterms through year-end. Only an actual strike or a true peace deal would settle that uncertainty. x.comÂ
Crude oil's latest drop reflects real Gulf export capacity coming back, which erodes Iran's Hormuz leverage. Saudi Arabia resumed loadings at Yanbu, with the East-West Pipeline at 2-2.65m barrels a day and seen by Kpler rising to 3-4m soon. Saudi and UAE shuttle tankers under US escort have restored at least 60% of pre-war flows. The risk: Qatar's mediation is stuck, per Axios, and a squeezed Iran may escalate against ports, refineries, pipelines or Red Sea shipping. x.comÂ
Crude oil should stay severely elevated into 2027 because the Iran war is expected to run well into spring with no deal. That outlook comes with expected Fed hikes of 50bps, more chop or another deep correction in stock indexes in 2026 and an even bigger selloff in high-beta names. These predictions could be wrong. x.comÂ
