Daily Oil Fundamentals

Headline Bingo

05 Feb 2026

Headline Bingo

It is only the start of February and already our fraternity is tired of the banners which flash across screens trying to grab our attention in their own importance. What makes them more infuriatingly difficult to ignore are the many and varied A.I.-like tools which read headlines and are programmed to react. Or should we not offend and say coded? Debatable semantics aside, the multi-dollar moves in crude futures yesterday were authored by an initial flash that informed on how the US/Iran talks has been cancelled on Friday because of Iran’s unhappiness of both the venue and refusal to expand talks on anything beyond nuclear issues. Just over two hours later, and apparently under pressure from Gulf states, Iran reversed its position.

Daily Oil Fundamentals

Escalate, De-escalate, Repeat

04 Feb 2026

Escalate, De-escalate, Repeat

Currently, there is no escaping the Middle East. One might even argue that Monday’s massive price fall was somewhat overdone and perplexing, as it was evidently based on the US President’s assumption that Iran was “seriously talking”. The content of these talks was never revealed. Since the US military reportedly shot down an Iranian drone yesterday as it approached one of its aircraft carriers—just hours after gunboats of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to seize a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz—one might cynically assume that the talks were belligerent.

Daily Oil Fundamentals

Relief Sighs Through the Wider Markets

03 Feb 2026

Relief Sighs Through the Wider Markets

No doubt the proof will be very different to the pudding (or is that padding?) when the finer details of a deal struck between Washington and New Delhi was announced overnight. At present, markets have need to react in headline which comes mainly via ‘Truth Social’ on how the US will cut the punitive tariff on India from 50 percent to 18 percent in exchange for India’s replacing oil imports from the those of Russia with US and its controlled Venezuelan ones.