Oil News: Traders Watch EIA Inventory Report as Hormuz Traffic Stays Restricted
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Key Points:
- EIA inventory data tests the crude rally as Hormuz traffic fell to eight vessels, far below pre-war levels.
- A 9.1-million-barrel API crude build gives sellers a reason to challenge WTI and Brent near resistance.
- Iran’s conditions and U.S. demands leave Hormuz restricted, keeping the oil supply premium in place.
The Strait of Hormuz deal that crude traders priced in last week does not exist. Both sides spent the past 48 hours raising demands instead of lowering them, and the physical evidence confirmed it Tuesday when vessel traffic hit a one-week low. The market gave back weeks of risk premium on a framework that never became a shipping agreement and now every dollar of it is going back in. The rally has legs because the disruption behind it has no timeline for ending.