Paul Horsnell Market Quotations

The Russian statement is clearly bullish, as the market expectation of any support for OPEC from Russia has increased from its previous level of zero.

The issue of Iran's international relations continues to rise to the fore as a major potential area of market concern. It now seems likely that the EU3 of Germany, UK, and France will later this week abandon the mothballed talks with Iran.

The market faces the prospect of years without sufficient flexibility or insulation from shocks during a period of extreme geopolitical stress.

The market seems to have pushed far too far, far too fast and on the basis of far too little hard information.

The loss of short-haul heavy crude oil imports into the U.S. market is now becoming significant. None of that effect is currently in the U.S. weekly data, although it can be expected to depress imports in at least the next two weeks of data.