Daan Struyven, Co-Head of Global Commodities Research at Goldman Sachs, explained that the oil market barely reacted to the announcement of the toughest US sanctions in history against Iran on August 20, 2026. A naval blockade of Iranian ports, reimposed around mid-July, had already cut off Iranian crude flows weeks before the official announcement. Brent crude was trading at roughly $94 per barrel and WTI at about $87 on August 21, with a 5-6% gain over the prior week, a meaningful but measured move given the geopolitical intensity. Iranian crude offers to Chinese buyers, the main customers for sanctioned Iranian barrels, had already declined sharply, and traders are now closely watching the effectiveness of the naval blockade rather than the text of the sanctions.
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