Oil will come off the boil

The price of Brent crude, the main oil-price benchmark, has broken through $75 for the first time this year. But the rally won't last.

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US sanctions against Iran have propelled prices above $75 a barrel
(Image credit: Darryl Peroni)

The price of Brent crude, the main oil-price benchmark, has broken through $75 for the first time this year, marking a 50% increase since 1 January. A US waiver that had enabled China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey to continue buying oil from Iran after the reimposition of sanctions last year expired on 2 May, while unrest in Libya and American sanctions against Venezuela have also raised concerns about global supply.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.