Energy Complex Rallies Higher Amid Fresh Gulf Infrastructure Threats

The energy complex is rallying this morning with the prompt month heating oil contract leading the way higher with 18.5 cent gains (+5%) so far in pre-market trading. Gasoline futures are currently exchanging hands over 8.5 cents higher (+2.8%) than yesterday’s settlement, wiping out the losses from what turned out to be a relatively quiet trading day yesterday.

Both WTI and Brent crude oil futures are up around $2 per barrel as yesterday’s optimism, spurred by headlines of non-Iranian ships transiting the Strait and Trump’s mystery security coalition, fades as Iran steps up pressure on regional energy infrastructure. It was also rumored that oil exports have resumed out of Kharg Island, and while that has been tough to verify, Iranian ships have been confirmed passing the Strait of Hormuz.

The International Maritime Organization’s 36th Extraordinary Session is scheduled to start tomorrow and go through Wednesday, bringing members of the UN agency together to discuss the ongoing situation in the Persian Gulf. While tangible progress toward relieving tensions in the Gulf is highly unlikely, it is safe to say that the IMO probably wouldn’t be meeting if they expected the Hormuz problem to be resolved tomorrow.

A tanker was reported to have been struck by an unknown projectile while it was anchored near Fujairah, UAE, in the Gulf of Oman. The Kuwaiti LPG carrier sustained minor damage and no injuries were reported in what is now the 17th strike against commercial ships since the beginning of the war.