Matt Raley

Months of warnings that supply disruptions from the Iran war could cause devastating spikes in crude prices have eroded some of the oil industry’s credibility with the White House, just as executives are now cautioning that global inventories are dipping perilously low. bit.ly/3SoXhnA

Brent crude eased as rising U.S. stockpiles and record global inventories revived oversupply fears, while Russian sanctions, European diesel demand, and cautious Asian buying kept markets on alert.

Crude oil benchmarks surpassed $115 per barrel on Monday, prompted by major output reductions from key Middle Eastern producers, as the essential Strait of Hormuz remains closed due to the ongoing war with Iran. => West Texas Intermediate surged 27.48%, or $24.98, to $115.88 per barrel, while Brent advanced 25.42%, or $23.56, to $116.25 per barrel. => This reflects about a 35% weekly gain in U.S. crude, the largest in futures history since 1983. Prices last topped $100 after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. => The recent surge in global oil prices was further exacerbated by targeted Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iranian oil infrastructure during the weekend => Following the breach of $100 in Sunday evening trading, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that short-term oil price hikes are a small price for eliminating Iran's nuclear threat, adding that only fools would disagree. => Kuwait, OPEC's fifth-largest producer, announced precautionary cuts to oil production and refining on Saturday due to Iranian threats to safe shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, though the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation provided no specifics on the scale. => In Iraq, OPEC's second-biggest producer, output has crashed, with production from its main southern fields down 70% to 1.3 million barrels per day from 4.3 million pre-war, per three industry sources cited by Reuters on Sunday. => The United Arab Emirates, OPEC's third-largest, stated on Saturday it is carefully scaling back offshore output to handle storage demands, with ADNOC noting onshore operations remain normal. => These cuts in Gulf states arise from overflowing storage as oil backs up from the Strait's shutdown, with tankers avoiding the route over attack fears; the Strait handles roughly 20% of global oil exports. => Though President Trump claims the war is won, fighting persists without letup, including reports of Iran naming Mojtaba Khamenei, son of slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the new supreme leader after the U.S. and Israel killed the elder early in the conflict. => Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that Strait traffic will restart after the U.S. dismantles Iran's ability to target ships, telling CNN that while flows are minimal now, normalization could happen in weeks, not months, in the worst case. #OilMarket #EnergyCrisis #Geopolitics #OilPrices #BrentCrude #WTICrude #MiddleEastConflict #StraitOfHormuz #OPECCuts #SupplyDisruptions #CommodityMarkets #EnergySector #GlobalEconomy #MarketVolatility #OOTT