Oil prices may take weeks to stabilize after Hormuz Strait reopening: UAE media

DUBAI, June 17– Oil prices could take between four and eight weeks to stabilize even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens later this week, as tanker backlogs, elevated insurance costs, low inventories and lingering geopolitical risks continue to support a risk premium in energy markets, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Gulf News reported on Wednesday, citing analysts.

The newspaper said Brent crude has already fallen from wartime highs of nearly 120 U.S. dollars per barrel to around 80 dollars as traders priced in expectations of a U.S.-Iran agreement and the reopening of the key shipping route. However, analysts believe that while futures markets have reacted quickly, physical oil markets will take much longer to normalize.