Iran’s Disappearing Oil Is Becoming Everyone’s Problem

AI Summary

China's recovering crude demand is coinciding with a loss of Iranian oil supplies, pushing independent refiners to seek more expensive alternatives. The resulting competition for replacement barrels may tighten global oil markets, while the article says Tehran could have stronger incentives to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which is carrying about 13 million barrels a day.

Iranian oil is disappearing from the market just as its biggest buyer returns for more. China’s recovering crude demand is colliding with the loss of a supplier that sustained its independent refiners through the crisis, forcing them to compete for increasingly expensive alternatives. The consequences reach beyond China: every replacement barrel tightens supplies for other buyers, while Tehran faces a growing incentive to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, which is now carrying an unexpectedly strong 13 million barrels a day (just 5 million below…