Overview
- Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is effectively halted, leaving tankers carrying roughly 20 million barrels a day stranded and throttling flows from Gulf producers.
- U.S. crude settled near $90.90 and Brent neared $93–95 after the week’s steepest gains in months, pushing up gasoline and diesel in the U.S. and sending diesel and jet fuel prices soaring in Europe and Asia.
- Physical outages are mounting, with analysts estimating around 9 million barrels a day of oil shut in, Qatar declaring force majeure on LNG exports, and key Saudi facilities including Ras Tanura reported closed.
- Washington granted 30‑day waivers to let traders move stranded Russian crude to India and announced up to $20 billion in insurance support for Gulf shipping, though analysts say only restored Hormuz traffic would ease prices sustainably.
- Fuel scarcity is biting in Asia as suppliers ration deliveries and some refineries curb exports, while Indian refiners rush to secure Russian barrels even as officials say only about 40% of India’s crude imports transit Hormuz and alternative supplies are being arranged.