Oil Futures Extend Gains as U.S.-Iran Tensions Lift Risk Premium

Oil futures extended gains as the United States reimposed a blockade on Iran and Iran said the Strait of Hormuz had been closed. According to Jin10, Henry Hoffman, co-portfolio manager at Catalyst Energy Infrastructure Fund, said in a report that the market had been too quick to treat partial reopening as the end of the crisis. He said inventory buffers were much thinner than they were when the conflict began. Hoffman added that rebuilding inventories, repairing damaged facilities, and convincing shippers that the strait is genuinely safe mean risk premiums for crude oil, refined products, and liquefied natural gas will be more persistent than the market expected after a ceasefire.