White smoke in the negotiations between the US and Iran. Although the truce may be fragile, the Iranian Government announced this Friday at noon that This step is crucial: it connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, which gives many oil-producing countries access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Not in vain, it circulates through Hormuz a fifth of global oil traffic.
“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage of all merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz is declared fully open for the remainder of the ceasefire period,” said the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchiin a message on social networks. Donald Trump responded to this with a brief and, for once, non-controversial message on his social network, Truth: “Thank you!”
The markets have not been slow to react and barrels of crude oil have begun to plummet with a fury rarely seen. Although the main indicators (the futures of the barrel of Texas Intermediate for the US or the Brent barrel for Europe) have experienced a lot of volatility since the conflict broke out in the Middle East at the end of February, in both cases the price falls by over 10%.
Fall in the price of a barrel of Texas Intermediate in the last hours
Texas barrels, for example, have fallen by 6.12% in just ten minutes, when oil moves in a range of 0.5% to 1.5% for minutes. This intraday crash is only provisional, as Hormuz is still at risk of receiving tolls from the Iranian regime. However, it also serves as a prelude: the price of a Texas barrel remains above what it was before the outbreak of the war.
A bit of the same thing happens with Brent barrels. The price still remains above what was seen before USA and Israel began their illegal attack on Iran, but it is collapsing at an intraday rate rarely seen.
Fall in the barrel of Brent in the last hours after the announcement of the reopening of Hormuz
The reopening of Hormuz sends a breath of oxygen to the market, although various experts have been warning for weeks that it has already occurred, after having limited (and directly interrupted) global crude oil traffic with this war. In Europe, for example, several commissioners are already warning that the worst is yet to come and it is even recommended to encourage teleworking.
Spain approved measures to alleviate the economic effects of the war in Iran, although numerous economists have been warning that the entire Eurozone and even Brussels are beginning to question measures such as reducing taxes at fuel pumps. In a matter of days we will know how the oil market evolves and how it affects the pockets of the Spanish people.
