Is Iran Blockage Impacting Global Oil? Some Detail . . .

Economic Information from Oil Price.com concerning reserves and pricing based on global interests and actions. In a bit of a flux right now. Not much stability and a lot of rent taking by the oil and gasoline industry. Some detail. More at the Oil Price site.

“Oil Ignores Escalation, Logs Biggest Weekly Drop Since 2025”

Oil and Energy Insider @ Oil Price.com

Tom Kool

Inventory/Stocks . . .

Friday, April 10, 2026

Is there a ceasefire or not? That is the ultimate question asked by the oil markets as the Strait of Hormuz remains open, strikes on energy infrastructure in the Middle East continue unabated (one could even say the damage reported by Saudi Arabia should be a turbocharger for prices) and the Lebanese issue continues to escalate. Nevertheless, oil is set to post its largest weekly loss since July 2025, with ICE Brent closing this week around $96 per barrel.

Ceasefire Or Not, the Hormuz Is Still Closed. Despite the oil market’s hopes for a gradual opening of the Strait of Hormuz, commercial navigation through the waterway remains dominated by Tehran with Iranian cargoes accounting for all crude and refined product transits over the past two days. 

Rare Russian Tanker Bursts into Gulf. A Russian-flagged VLCC tanker passed through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf, a rare move as ships usually seek to escape the blocked waterway, however considering the ship’s history hauling Venezuelan oil it would most probably sail to Iran.  

OPEC+ Output Collapses in March. According to S&P Global, members of OPEC+ slashed their combined production by 8.11 million b/d last month, seeing total output drop to 34.78 million b/d due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with Iraq cutting the most as it shut in some 2.75 million b/d. 

China Allows State Refiners to Draw SPRs. The Chinese Energy Ministry has given state-owned refiners such as Sinopec and CNPC the approval to tap strategic oil reserves held in commercial storages, allowing the drawdown of up to 1 million b/d of crude from the 1.4 billion barrels of SPR inventories.

Japan Releases SPR for Struggling Refiners. Japan’s government plans to release 20 days’ worth of oil reserves to ensure stable domestic supply, tapping into its strategic petroleum reserves since March 16, with the public inventory of available crude currently totalling of 143 days of consumption.   

Tom Kool
Editor, Oilprice.com

AB: Still a dumb idea to attack Iran and cause economic issues . . .