The Only Way Out Is Through | Weekly Roundup

Oil's squeeze is now structural, not just geopolitical, and with SPRs drained there's no price-suppression tool left.

• SPR exhausted: U.S. strategic reserves hold just 70 days of demand — the lowest in over 20 years and roughly one-sixth to one-seventh China's buffer — removing the main tool to suppress oil prices.
• Brent-WTI gap at wartime highs: The spread, just $2-4/barrel pre-war, has widened to $13-14, implying global buyers pay a 10-15% premium versus U.S. benchmarks, partly on fears of a crude export ban expansion.

Themes, sentiment and reasons are AI-written paraphrases, checked so they never quote an episode. They may contain errors. Not investment advice. Episodes remain the property of their creators.