The eyes of the world of finance, and beyond, remain focused on what could happen around the Strait of Hormuz, a thin (in some places even very thin) strip of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, through which, however, passes about 20% of the oil marketed throughout the world, 40% of what transits by sea and about 90% of the oil in the Persian Gulf 18 million barrels a day.
Today the European Union has also intervened in the complex game of roles, until now it has been crushed in the midst of muscular displays on one side of Ahmadinejad (Iran controls the northern part of the strait) who, in response to the feared sanctions against the Iranian nuclear program , threatens to close the strait (with the consequent dramatic consequences that this would have on the price of oil) and on the other hand by the Obama administration which, according to the US press, would have delivered directly to Khamenei the message that a possible blockade of the strait would cause an immediate, and harsh, reaction from the US government
According to some European press agencies, in fact, the Member States of the Union, while the diplomatic action of the EEAS continues aimed at the abandonment of Tehran's nuclear program, they would be willing to decide for a 6-month extension in the introduction of sanctions on the Persian regime, a provision that should be ratified on 23 January in Brussels, within the meeting of foreign ministers.
The most immediate consequence of the moratorium on sanctions is the slight drop in the price of oil, slipped below the threshold of 99 dollars a barrel, with a drop of 88 cents compared to yesterday's close. In the longer term (pending whether, as seems likely, Ahmadinejad is bluffing about closing the strait) the EU's slowdown on the Iranian oil embargo could lead markets to focus on macroeconomics rather than geopolitics and would also allow Countries that import Iranian oil to find alternative resources and would allow pre-existing supply agreements to expire.
