The Oil Supply Crunch Is Spreading From the Gulf to the Rest of the World – WSJ
The Oil Supply Crunch Is Spreading From the Gulf to the Rest of the World – WSJ
For a glimpse of how much higher energy prices could still soar, look beyond the prices Wall Street analysts normally track for West Texas Intermediate in the U.S. and Brent in Europe.
At the center of the supply squeeze in the Middle East, traders are paying an eye-watering $160 a barrel for the Emirati oil that can dodge the Strait of Hormuz, far above those global benchmarks.
Those sky-high prices, traders say, are a harbinger of where the rest of the market could be heading if the Persian Gulf isn’t reopened soon. That is because Asian customers are scouring the world for similar varieties of crude to keep churning out diesel and jet fuel.
Benchmark oil prices sank after President Trump postponed strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure and said the U.S. had held “productive” talks with Tehran, raising the prospect he might be searching for a way to end the war.