The Red Sea tensions - all you need to knowThe West Texas Intermediate crude oil has trended mostly sideways for over a month, moving between $68 and $75 per barrel. Yet, while the situation in the Middle East and the Red Sea continues to deteriorate, the oil market keeps growing increasingly ignorant of the dangers of a broader war in the region that could further disrupt the transit of goods and oil through (other) important shipping chokepoints and impact the oil supply (remember, the Middle East region accounts for about one-third of global oil supply).
To put into perspective how bad the situation in the Red Sea has become (following the start of the Israel-Hamas War), here are a few numbers: the number of cargo ships and oil tankers transiting through the Bab el-Mandev Strait fell by approximately 50%, and the volume of the cargo (measured in metric tons) dropped by about 67% between 7th October 2023 and last Friday (with most of the decline starting in mid-December 2023 after major shipping like companies halted transit through the Red Sea). In addition to that, since the start of the year (until last Friday), the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operation reported thirty-five instances of either attack, hijacking, incident, or suspicious approach in the area.
Furthermore, about a week and a half ago, the United States and the United Kingdom finally decided to take more aggressive steps against Houthi’s harassment, launching airstrikes on their positions in Yemen. In response to that, the rebels vowed to continue fighting the United States and Israel (and their allies), executing multiple new attacks on commercial and military vessels in the regional waters (the terrorist group also announced a safe passage for Russian and Chinese ships). In essence, Houthi’s attacks against the United States Navy equal a declaration of war, something the United States is trying to deny as it attempts to avoid an all-out war with Houthis and other proxies of Iran (and potentially Iran itself; do not forget this is a highly political question for the United States as it would mean higher prices of oil and a likely return of rising inflation).
Nevertheless, with Israel’s administration being opposed to stopping its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, it is improbable there will be any relief from Houthi’s attacks anytime soon. In fact, a lack of diplomatic efforts to end the Israel-Hamas War and to resolve the Red Sea crisis keeps increasing the risk of new parties entering the conflict and letting the war spiral out of control. As this has tremendous implications for the oil market (with the broader war being a highly bullish catalyst for the oil price), monitoring the situation in the Red Sea remains a high priority. However, as this scenario still remains only a speculation, our price target of $65 per barrel remains unaffected (at least for now); in the short term, though, we expect the USOIL to continue oscillating between $68 and $75 (and perhaps even breaking temporarily above this range).
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 displays the daily chart of the USOIL. Yellow arrows indicate significant events in the Middle East. It can be observed that oil rose only slightly in response to the eruption of the Israel-Hamas War on 7th October 2023, and then quickly reversed the direction. Once Houthi rebels began to ramp up their attacks on commercial and military ships in November 2023, oil ticked higher only a bit and then resumed a decline (it is important to note that Houthis were causing problems in the region already before the war). Then, in mid-December 2023, major shipping companies started to halt the transit of their ships through the region. Since then, the USOIL has trended mostly sideways (despite tensions continuing to rise).
Technical analysis
Daily time frame = Neutral
Weekly time frame = Neutral
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DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor or any other entity. Your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
