This Time Mideast Tensions Are Bad News for Oil
- Saudi Arabia, Iran have worst political clash since 1980s
- Crude prices erased gains as investors focused on oversupply
Oil Markets Shrug as Saudi-Iranian Tension Builds
This article is for subscribers only.
At almost any other time, an escalating diplomatic conflict between OPEC members Iran and Saudi Arabia would mean a spike in oil prices.
That the rally this time couldn’t be sustained shows just how abnormal things are in the oil market. Brent crude is little changed this week as a global supply glut and the slowest Chinese growth in a generation trumped mounting strife between the nations on either side of the world’s busiest waterway for oil tankers.