CRUDE IN SIGHT

Brent vaults above $108 as Red Sea, Hormuz risks surge - Sept. 11, 2026

  • Houthis seize crucial Red Sea city of Mocha, advancing towards Bab el-Mandeb
  • IRGC says destroyed US maritime drone in Hormuz; two ships hit off Oman
  • Unconfirmed reports of 6 fires reported along Saudi East-West crude oil pipeline

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OIL VIEWSLETTER

Crude's risk skewed to upside as Mideast's second front flares up - Sept. 11, 2026

Brent flirted with $110/barrel on Friday before retreating on hopes of a new Gulf-Iran diplomatic initiative. But with the war now intensifying on two fronts, we see crude price risks remaining firmly skewed to the upside.

In this week’s Oil Viewsletter:

  • Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea lifeline comes under threat as the Houthis escalate attacks on the Kingdom’s oil infrastructure and strengthen their position around Bab el-Mandeb.
  • Hormuz flows deteriorate sharply as Iran attacks tankers and fires ballistic missiles at US warships, while Washington targets Iranian crude carriers.
  • Trump prepares Americans for a long war, tying its end to the November midterms and pivoting from promises of lower energy prices towards helping consumers pay higher bills.
  • Iran raises the stakes against the US Navy, apparently seeking to make Washington’s blockade increasingly costly to sustain.
  • Two possible off-ramps emerge — neither looks promising: GCC-Iran talks over Hormuz and Saudi military pressure on the Houthis in Yemen.

Plus: China returns to the crude market with a vengeance, Russian supply constraints deepen, diesel approaches record highs and Gulf producers scramble for tankers.

 

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BULLS & BEARS

Mar 2026: Mildly bullish near-term, neutral first-half Mar - Feb. 20, 2026

After weighing the balance of Iran risks, our latest Bulls & Bears report concludes:

  • A Mildly Bullish near-term bias
  • Neutral stance for the first half of March

 

 

 

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EXECUTIVE BRIEFING NOTES

Exit of stranded Gulf barrels tilts prompt market into surplus (26 June 2026) - June 26, 2026

In our latest Executive Briefing Note: 

  • Stranded Persian Gulf crude is pushing the prompt market into surplus as Brent, Dubai, Oman and Murban flip into front-end contango.

  • Hormuz is reopening, but drone attacks, mine clearance and competing Iranian-Omani transit rules continue to cloud the outlook.

  • We estimate 250-300 million barrels of Gulf crude could hit the market over the coming weeks. But this should not be mistaken for the new normal. The real test will come when empty tankers can re-enter the Gulf, load, and exit the Strait at full capacity without disruption.

  • Record Russian crude flows to India and weak Chinese buying are amplifying prompt bearishness.

  • Diesel markets remain tight, suggesting the weakness is confined to crude rather than broader oil fundamentals.

  • Plus: Iraq's OPEC warning, the UAE's post-OPEC strategy, and why Hormuz governance could become the next geopolitical flashpoint.

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OIL RADAR

OIL IN 2026: Surplus on paper, wildcards in the real world - Dec. 29, 2025

Here we are at the end of 2025, a year of softer fundamentals punctuated by sharp, geopolitically driven lurches.

2026 is shaping up as a “surplus year” -- but not a sleepy one. The balance sheet looks loose; the risk map doesn’t.

Our special report sets out why we see Brent averaging $60-64/barrel, and where the real wildcards sit: Ukraine’s endgame (and what any sanctions unwind would actuallychange), a US-Venezuela standoff that could still escalate, and a Middle East where flashpoints are shifting rather than fading.

We also focus on market plumbing that can move prices even when fundamentals say “rangebound”:

  • Unusually high oil-on-water and record oil in transit -- a sanctions-era dislocation, not a Covid-style contango replay
  • Rare net-short speculative positioning, pointing to a more two-sided, tactical market -- prone to both air-pockets and squeezes
  • Atlantic refining margins converging while Asia stays squeezed, implying tougher Asian competition and continued pull for Atlantic exports

If you’re tracking what could break the range -- up or down -- this is the framework we’re using.