Don’t look now — oil is streaking to new 2019 highs early this morning.
Without much fanfare, a barrel of light crude has jumped more than 2% to kick off the new trading week, climbing above $65 for the first time since early November. Last week’s small push marked crude’s seventh-straight weekly gains, according to Dow Jones Market Data, marking its longest winning streak since 2014.
Rumors of an imminent crackdown on countries that import oil from Iran helped juice today’s move. According to a report from the Washington Post late Sunday night, U.S. officials will end waivers granted to some of Iran’s biggest oil buyers, including China, India, and Turkey. These gas guzzlers will face sanctions if they can’t get their oil fix elsewhere.
“This does bring a lot more uncertainty in terms of global supplies,” Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob told Reuters. “It is a bullish surprise for the market.”
While the news is certainly boosting oil’s price this morning, it’s important to note crude has marched steadily higher lockstep with the stock market since it bottomed in late December.
Crude’s final push lower coincided with the market’s Christmas Eve swoon, when a barrel of the black stuff bottomed out near $42, culminating a 45% slide from its October highs.
How quickly things change…
Factoring this this morning’s rally, a barrel of light crude is now up 55% from its December lows.
The Iran story continues to develop early this morning. In fact, this just popped up on my feed as I was about to publish:
Is this the spark that will send oil back into the triple digits?
This story ain’t over yet…
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