CRUDE IN SIGHT

Crude consolidates gains at US' Strait of Hormuz alert spooks markets - Feb. 10, 2026

  • Crude futures were consolidating Monday’s gains of more than 1% early Tuesday in Asia, with the Iran risk premium resurfacing.
  • A warning issued on Monday by the US Maritime Administration urging American commercial vessels to steer clear of Iranian territorial waters while transiting the Strait of Hormuz rekindled fears of a potential military confrontation.
  • Some commentators are highlighting a February 11 meeting scheduled between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a potential inflection point on the Iran issue.

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OIL VIEWSLETTER

Crude weighs divergent paths as US-Iran talks get underway - Feb. 6, 2026

  • High-stakes US-Iran talks are under way, putting crude’s remaining geopolitical risk premium firmly in play as markets weigh de-escalation against renewed escalation.
  • Brent has eased from four-month highs, but at $67-68 still carries an estimated $5-6 Iran risk premium, which we see eroding only if talks avoid a breakdown.
  • Our scenario analysis maps out the price implications of a temporary détente, a collapse in talks, or an unlikely comprehensive deal — with Brent risks skewed both below $60 and back above $70.
  • India’s sharp pullback from Russian crude is blowing out discounts, with Urals widening to their deepest levels since April 2023 as intake heads towards ~0.5 mb/d.
  • Russian barrels are being forced east, with China absorbing more at steepening discounts — but questions remain over its capacity to take all the slack from India.
  • Alternative supply options are proving costly, with Venezuelan crude struggling to gain traction in India and surplus cargoes drifting to Europe.

 

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BULLS & BEARS

Feb 2026: Neutral near-term, mildly bearish first-half Feb - Jan. 23, 2026

Our latest Bulls & Bears report maintains a neutral stance for the coming week and a mildly bearish outlook for the first half of February.

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EXECUTIVE BRIEFING NOTES

Trump's Venezuela gambit: Big political risk, modest oil impact for now - Jan. 4, 2026

Trump took a bold risk in sending US troops into Caracas over the weekend, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores, and transferring them to the US to face longstanding criminal charges.

He may also have taken on an impossible task in pledging to “run” Venezuela until a safe and orderly transition to a democratically elected government is in place. Venezuela’s Supreme Court has ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to assume interim presidential powers, while Washington is racing to shape a workable interim setup. Pushback from Maduro’s allies cannot be ruled out. 

While the political situation is likely to remain in flux for months, with plenty of scope for messy outcomes, the near-term oil market equation is less complicated. We expect crude to come face mild bearish pressure as Venezuelan production and exports, disrupted by US blockades in recent weeks,  begin to normalise. 

Longer-term, Trump has promised American companies will invest “billions of dollars” to rehabilitate Venezuela’s oil sector. But even if everything goes to plan, meaningful gains are far down the line. 

Read our quick analysis of the latest development and their implications for oil in this Executive Briefing Note.

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.