Iran has shipped at least 11.7 million barrels of crude to China through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, even as the blockade chokes off Gulf exports for everyone else.
The S&P 500 energy sector has jumped more than 24% year to date, dwarfing the broader market while oil majors hit all-time highs on geopolitical risk and a rotation out of tech.
WTI crude fell below $78 a barrel Tuesday, erasing nearly all of last week's war-driven gains, after Trump said the conflict would end very soon.
American LNG terminals are running flat out as the Strait of Hormuz blockade removes nearly a fifth of global supply, sending European and Asian spot prices to one-year highs.
Brent and WTI plunged more than $30 from overnight highs after G7 ministers signaled a 400-million-barrel reserve release and Saudi Aramco dumped spot crude.
G7 finance ministers held an emergency call with IEA chief Fatih Birol to discuss tapping up to 400 million barrels of strategic stockpiles as crude tops $100.
European gas storage fell to just 46 billion cubic metres by late February, the lowest since 2022, leaving the continent dangerously exposed as the Hormuz blockade cuts off Qatari LNG.
Brent crude topped $107 and WTI surged past $103 on Monday as the Strait of Hormuz blockade entered its second week, cutting off 20% of the world's oil.
The Hormuz crisis is hitting Asian economies hard, but not equally. India has two months of oil reserves and no alternatives. China has Russian crude and a four-month stockpile.