Depleted Global Stocks Set Higher Floor Under Oil Prices

The world is nearly out of buffers to cushion the supply shock of the Iran war, which raises the floor under oil prices each time re-escalation threatens oil supply from the Middle East, top industry executives said this week. Global oil stocks have been depleted as the war enters its eighth month, leaving the market more vulnerable to the next supply shock. Despite numerous estimates that the Middle East’s crude oil supply is back to , and even exceeding , pre-war levels, the fundamentals show increasingly tighter…