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Hormuz disruption keeps oil near $100 as Iran economic pressure mounts
Oil shipments from Persian Gulf producers are estimated to have rebounded to about two-thirds of pre-war levels, but analyst debate continues over how long Tehran can endure falling revenues.
Oil prices are again closing in on the $100 per barrel mark as shipping traffic at the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted more than six months after the U.S.-Iran conflict began, according to OilPrice. The outlet says the U.S. and Iran remain deadlocked at the start of the seventh month of the war.
OilPrice reports that U.S. economic pressure on Iran has intensified, with Tehran facing stifled oil revenues from the U.S. Operation Economic Outcast and a blockade. It adds that analysts have questioned how long Iran can withstand the collapse of what it describes as the regime’s most important hard-cash income.
While Iran’s Strait of Hormuz control remains a focal point, OilPrice says oil flows out from other Persian Gulf producers are estimated to have rebounded to about two-thirds of pre-war levels, helped by mostly dark transits and shuttle-shipping for ship-to-ship transfers outside the strait.
OilPrice notes that views on Iran’s staying power are split. It cites an Iranian analyst, Arash Azizi, who told Reuters that the balance of power has tilted somewhat against Iran as the U.S. blockade hits Iranian oil flows hard, while other analysts argue that hardliners and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continue to believe they can maintain leverage.