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.

Daily Oil Fundamentals

All Roads Lead to Washington, D.C.

02 Feb 2026

All Roads Lead to Washington, D.C.

The new year started where 2025 left off. The US and its administration remain the principal driving force of world politics and the global economy. Politicians and investors are desperate to second-guess the next move of the Trump government, and more often than not, they are caught off guard. What they nonetheless spotted during January was how the US focus shifted from economic matters to foreign policy.