Brent crude has fallen more than 20% in the past month, sliding from triple digits during the worst of the Iran war to around $72 a barrel today. WTI sits near $70. That kind of move usually means one thing: the crisis is over. It isn't, not quite.
The Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that carries roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil, spent nearly four months effectively shut after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on Feb. 28. Iran mined the strait, fired on tankers and closed the lane to anyone it considered hostile. The U.S. and Iran signed an interim memorandum of understanding on June 17 meant to reopen Hormuz to toll-free traffic and wind the war down over a 60-day window.
It hasn't gone smoothly. Iran briefly reclosed the strait in April over what it called ceasefire violations. As recently as June 25 through 28, Iran and the U.S. traded a fresh round of strikes: drones hit a container ship, the U.S. retaliated, and Tehran hit a vessel carrying Qatari oil before both sides agreed to pause ahead of new talks in Doha. Shipping is still moving under a daily quota system run by Iran's Revolutionary Guard navy, hundreds of vessels remain stranded in the Gulf, and war-risk insurance premiums are still many times above pre-war levels.
Call it half-open. Saudi Arabia has started loading tankers again at Ras Tanura, and the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar are all pushing more crude onto the water, with Gulf flows reportedly climbing back to roughly 75% of prewar levels. That's enough to crater oil prices and scramble the math for nearly every energy stock with Middle East exposure, even as the underlying conflict simmers.
That combination, falling prices, a still-fragile peace, and a region racing to restore lost output, creates an odd set of winners. Some obvious oil and gas names are nursing real wounds from the war while betting on a clean recovery. Others made their money from the chaos itself and now have to prove they can hold onto it once the chaos fades. Here are five stocks caught in that transition.
The Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that carries roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil, spent nearly four months effectively shut after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on Feb. 28. Iran mined the strait, fired on tankers and closed the lane to anyone it considered hostile. The U.S. and Iran signed an interim memorandum of understanding on June 17 meant to reopen Hormuz to toll-free traffic and wind the war down over a 60-day window.
It hasn't gone smoothly. Iran briefly reclosed the strait in April over what it called ceasefire violations. As recently as June 25 through 28, Iran and the U.S. traded a fresh round of strikes: drones hit a container ship, the U.S. retaliated, and Tehran hit a vessel carrying Qatari oil before both sides agreed to pause ahead of new talks in Doha. Shipping is still moving under a daily quota system run by Iran's Revolutionary Guard navy, hundreds of vessels remain stranded in the Gulf, and war-risk insurance premiums are still many times above pre-war levels.
Call it half-open. Saudi Arabia has started loading tankers again at Ras Tanura, and the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar are all pushing more crude onto the water, with Gulf flows reportedly climbing back to roughly 75% of prewar levels. That's enough to crater oil prices and scramble the math for nearly every energy stock with Middle East exposure, even as the underlying conflict simmers.
That combination, falling prices, a still-fragile peace, and a region racing to restore lost output, creates an odd set of winners. Some obvious oil and gas names are nursing real wounds from the war while betting on a clean recovery. Others made their money from the chaos itself and now have to prove they can hold onto it once the chaos fades. Here are five stocks caught in that transition.
2 months ago
