The situation in the Red Sea appears to be growing untenable for global shipping companies. That may result in the US military intervening to keep the critical shipping rout open.
This is from Javier Blas at Bloomberg:
The West has two “b” alternatives with the Houthis, which are disrupting global container / energy trade: “bomb” or “bribe” — as simple as that. Neither is great, with lots of collateral damage. But decision time is here as more and more vessels turn away from the Red Sea.
Curiously, there are also reports of a near-term peace between Houthis and Saudi Arabia.
For now, BP has paused all tanker transits through the Red Sea and oil is up $2.44 to $73.87.
WTI daily
On Friday, we learned that oil net shorts are at extreme levels and that makes me think there’s the opportunity for a bigger bounce here.
h/t @rory_johnston