Paper Oil Blinks While Physical Supply Tightens

Extreme volatility in crude futures prices has eased in recent days, although the market reacted with an 8% jump early Monday to the news of failed U.S.-Iran talks and the beginning of a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Traders continue to react to any signal of how the worst-ever disruption energy market would unfold, but with uncertainty still very high, oil market participants bet on and try to predict movements. The worst of the volatility may have passed, as investors and speculators appear to have exhausted their capacity to respond…