Iran attacked an oil tanker. One person died. Three got injured. The maritime risk CEO called it the worst case scenario for the Strait of Hormuz.
The tanker was the Al Bahyah. It was carrying crude oil off the coast of Oman. Iran decided Tuesday was a good day to escalate. Maritime insurance premiums are going to the moon, which means some retail trader with $847 in his Robinhood account just googled "how to trade oil futures" and is currently reading an article that uses the phrase geopolitical risk premium unironically.
The Strait of Hormuz handles about 21 million barrels of oil per day. That's roughly a third of seaborne-traded oil. Iran knows this. You know this now because you just read it. The difference is Iran has missiles and you have a subscription to a trading Discord where a guy named CryptoKing posts rocket emojis.
Maritime risk professionals spend decades analyzing shipping routes, insurance models, and naval conflict patterns. They build entire careers on understanding chokepoint vulnerabilities. Then a CEO goes on record saying this is the worst case scenario, and within six hours some f*cking genius on Twitter is explaining why this is actually bullish for Tesla.
One seafarer is dead. Three are injured. Iran is attacking commercial vessels in one of the most critical waterways on earth. But sure, let's check what this means for your call options that expire Friday.
The Strait of Hormuz has been a flashpoint for forty years. Tanker wars happened in the 1980s. Mines got laid. Ships got hit. Oil markets seized up. None of this is new. What's new is you pretending you understand crude oil supply chains because you watched a YouTube video about OPEC once.
The worst case scenario for Hormuz is sustained military conflict that closes the strait. The worst case scenario for you is finding out your broker doesn't offer after-hours trading on crude.
Photo by on Unsplash

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