Exxon says $150 oil is coming as Hormuz stays shut — load up on big oil stocks
The Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway where roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes through — has been shut down since the Iran war broke out in February. An Exxon executive now warns that oil stockpiles are about to hit record lows, which could push crude prices to $150–$160 a barrel.
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The Strait of Hormuz has been closed since February, choking off the world's most important oil shipping route. An Exxon senior executive is now publicly warning that global oil inventories will hit all-time lows within weeks, at which point physical crude prices could spike to $150–$160 a barrel. When a major oil company's own leadership makes that kind of call, it usually means the supply squeeze is real and getting worse. Oil producers like Exxon and Chevron stand to make substantially more money per barrel, and their share prices tend to move in the same direction as crude — often with extra leverage. Even if a ceasefire materializes, analysts are saying the era of cheap $60 oil is over because the war has permanently disrupted supply chains.