Javier Blas

This week, The World for Sale comes out in paperback

It explains how oil and commodity markets work, how they influence geopolitics, and the extraordinary power of a few traders you've probably never heard of

Please take a look smarturl.it/TheWorldForSal…

West of Suez, oil freight costs are falling hard (from all-time highs). The WAF-to-Europe route has more than halved, for example, dropping to its lowest since early September. East of Suez freight remains expensive, however, with the Persian Gulf-to-Far East still >$1m per day.

The US is about to see a significant drop in gasoline prices, with the nationwide retail average price about to drop below $4 per gallon (on AAA data).

The wholesale gasoline market is trading at $2.68 per gallon, the lowest since the early days of the war (Mar. 11th). Since late Sept, wholesale gasoline prices are down >25%.

Saudi Arabia says its critical East-West oil pipeline was attacked again, resulting in a small fire. But Riyadh says the pipeline, the key bypass to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, remains operational despite the attack.

spa.gov.sa/ar/N2722231?ty…

CHART OF THE YEAR: The first Dunkelflaute of the 2026-27 season has revived commentary about another European electricity crisis à la 2022.

While short-term power prices have risen, the key German electricity 1-year benchmark contract remains contained, far, far, really far, below the 2022 levels.