Global Tensions, North Sea FID Shape Oil Market; Prices Head for Weekly Loss
Shaky shipping confidence in the Strait of Hormuz contrasts with a major North Sea investment decision as crude prices trend lower.
Global oil markets are facing a mix of geopolitical tension and new supply investment as the week closes, with Brent crude prices headed for a weekly loss. The tentative recovery of tanker traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz is being tempered by ongoing security fears, according to reports from OilPrice.com.
Traffic through the chokepoint had picked up over the past week, but confidence was shaken by an attack on the container ship Ever Lovely in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday. Following the incident, some shipowners pulled back and paused transits. The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) also paused its vessel evacuation plan from the Persian Gulf for safety coordination. Despite this, vessel-tracking data showed two crude tankers moving out of the Strait and four empty supertankers traveling inbound near the Omani coast on Friday morning local time.
The situation remains uncertain. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Source
Bakken Wire staff
