Iran War Boosts Refiner Hoarding
The ongoing war in the Middle East has increased refiner demand for precautionary stocks. One indicator of this is the extremely negative excess returns to storage for Brent shown in the figure here.
Blame Price Volatility for Low Stocks and High Prices (November 9, 2026) -- World crude stocks are much lower thanks to the drawdown caused by the Iran war. However, market participants may ignore calls to replenish stocks for this simple reason: margin calls. More >>