Oil price puzzle as sanctions choke Iran exports

Which direction is the price of Brent crude heading following deployment of a US naval and B-52 bomber strike force to the Middle East? The answer is complex

Amid rising tension between Washington and Tehran, markets must also add into the mix the loss of barrels from sanctions-hobbled Iran and crisis-hit Venezuela, now also targeted by US sanctions. Brent crude was up 33pc since the turn of the year before this month's downturn, following President Trump's decision in November last year to reimpose sanctions on the Islamic Republic, but this price rally had not seen any of the dramatic spikes of yesteryear, despite the scrapping of waivers in April. Those waivers allowed eight countries, including India and China, to continue to import Iranian oil. By rescinding them, supply has tightened; and intelligence from tanker-tracking agencies indicates