Even without war in the Gulf, pricier petrol is here to stay
Expensive oil could put Donald Trump in the White House
When Iran’s missiles whizzed towards Israel on Saturday April 13th, oil markets were closed. When they opened on Monday, their reaction was a loud “meh”. Brent crude, the global benchmark, dipped below $90 a barrel. It has since hovered around that level (see chart).
Traders had expected an attack of precisely this variety: big enough to cause concern; obvious enough to be foiled. They are now betting that Israel will avoid anything too rash in response. Yet even if oil prices do not surge, they remain uncomfortably elevated and seem likely to rise higher still in the summer, when increasing demand amid tight supply will probably tip the market into deficit. A cast of decision-makers—from central bankers to President Joe Biden, who faces re-election in November—is watching anxiously.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline "Explosive material"
Finance & economics April 20th 2024
- Generation Z is unprecedentedly rich
- Why the stockmarket is disappearing
- China’s better economic growth hides reasons to worry
- Frozen Russian assets will soon pay for Ukraine’s war
- Even without war in the Gulf, pricier petrol is here to stay
- Citigroup, Wall Street’s biggest loser, is at last on the up
- Can the IMF solve the poor world’s debt crisis?
More from Finance and economics
Working from home and the US-Europe divide
Americans are no longer the rich world’s great office drones
Immigration is surging, with big economic consequences
The West faces an unprecedented number of new arrivals
Japan will struggle to rescue its plummeting currency
Expensive government intervention looks likely to provide only brief respite