Update17 Apr 2026 17:18
friday, april 17, 2026
oil markets are fixated on this weekend’s second round of us-iran talks, with hopes rising for a negotiated end to the strait of hormuz’s 45-day blockade. iran’s announcements that navigation through hormuz is open come after trump managed to seal a shaky israel-lebanon ceasefire, sending ice brent below $90 per barrel again. the negotiations in islamabad will be oil’s ‘make it or break it’ moment, as any failure would amplify the iea’s warnings of impending fuel shortages and demand collapse.
iran swings hormuz open, or not. iran’s foreign minister abbas araghchi announced that the passage of all commercial vessels through the strait of hormuz is ‘completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire’, only for the irgc to reiterate that any tankers would still need to coordinate with them.
us warns chinese banks against iran oil deals. the us treasury department has sent letters to two chinese banks, warning them of sanctions in case they discover iranian oil payments transferred through their accounts, calling any potential actions against iran's banks 'operation economic fury'.
chinese oil production reaches all-time high. faced with gulf supply disruptions, chinese oil producers hiked crude output in the country to 4.51 million b/d in march, according to china's national bureau of statistics, up 1.3% year-over-year and marking the highest ever monthly production.
australia's fuel supply goes from bad to worse. australia's 120,000 b/d geelong refinery, operated by viva energy, suffered a devastating fire this week, with the plant's gasoline-producing units impacted by the blaze and potentially leading to a 45,000 b/d gasoline supply loss over the upcoming weeks.
****stan-flagged ship clears us hormuz counter-blockade. shalamar, a ****stani-owned crude tanker, became the first tanker to ship crude out of the strait of hormuz and the arabian sea, en route to karachi after loading a 450,000-barrel cargo at the uae’s das island, paving the way for other shippers.
traders vie for africa's billion dollar deal. global trading house trafigura has agreed a $1 billion oil-backed loan deal with opec member gabon, providing the funds upfront in return for exclusive rights to market the country's profit oil for the next 7 years, furthering gabon's dependence on oil traders.
iran can last several months without exports. iran's oil producers can withstand a complete halt in oil exports for up to 2 months before they'd be forced to shut in crude output, according to oil analysts, thanks to 90 million barrels of available storage, as oil flows through the arabian sea halted this week.