Crude Oil Edges Lower But Stays Elevated as Hormuz Deadline Extended

Mumbai, March 27: COMEX Crude Oil was trading at $93.75, down $0.73 or 0.77% on Friday morning, a marginal pullback that offers little comfort to markets still rattled by one of the most disruptive supply crises in modern energy history.

The slight dip comes after Trump extended Iran’s Strait of Hormuz deadline by 10 days — a move that gave markets a narrow window of cautious relief. Yet the broader picture remains deeply unsettled. Israel has intensified operations, reporting fresh strikes inside Iran and expanding activity across Lebanon as recently as March 26. With no credible ceasefire in place, the extension reads less as a diplomatic breakthrough and more as a postponement of the next escalation.

The numbers in context tell a starker story. Friday’s price of $93.75 sits well above the one-month low of $64.85, and the one-year range spans $55.20 at the bottom to a high of $111.24 — a level touched earlier this month as hostilities pushed global oil markets to the brink. From those peaks, crude has pulled back roughly $17.50, but the five-day average of $90.54 confirms that prices remain structurally elevated.

Hormuz Critical Variable

The Strait of Hormuz remains the single most critical variable. Roughly 25% of global oil and LNG transits the waterway, and its near-total closure since hostilities began on February 28 has pushed WTI up over 30%. Gulf producers have cut output by at least 10 million barrels per day, and global supply is projected to fall by 8 million barrels per day in March alone. The IEA’s emergency release of 400 million barrels from strategic stockpiles — the largest coordinated release ever — has helped soften the blow, but has not resolved the underlying supply shock.

Analysts note that a sustained recovery in supply will take time, even if the Strait reopens. Restarting shut-in production will require a degree of confidence that any agreement is holding on the ground. Drone strikes continued on Friday, with Kuwait’s airport fuel infrastructure reported hit — a sign that conditions on the ground remain active.

Source: https://comexlive.org/