It was said of terrifying West Indian fast bowler Patrick Patterson that, if even he didn’t know where the ball was going, the batsman had no chance. The US administration may have yet to decide what to do with its armada off the coast of Iran. So neither the Iranians nor energy markets know quite how to respond.
Oil prices rose above $70 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since last July, when the US was applying pressure to both Iran and Russia with tightened sanctions. Despite the “glut” narrative for this year, prices have been supported by temporary factors: the interruption to US output caused by winter storms and a sharp drop in Kazakh supply because of fires at the key Tengiz field.
European natural gas prices rose sharply last month, because of prolonged cold weather and the depletion of storage. The US freeze has not helped.
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