UBS offers glimmer of hope on oil prices, Hormuz, with one caveat

In May, UBS was warning that Brent crude could stay near $100 for the rest of 2026.

The Strait of Hormuz had been closed since March 2, global supply was falling at a pace not seen in modern energy market history, and the bank’s scenarios pointed to a prolonged supply shock that would keep inflation elevated well into 2027.

The picture has shifted. UBS published a revised oil note on June 23 that cuts its estimate of how much supply the Middle East conflict will keep offline this quarter, and the revision carries implications well beyond crude prices.

UBS Commodity Analyst Giovanni Staunovo has become one of the more closely watched voices on the Hormuz recovery, and his latest read is considerably more constructive than the warnings he was issuing in the spring.

UBS cuts its Q3 oil supply loss estimate by 5 million barrels per day

The revision is significant in absolute terms. UBS previously estimated that the Middle East conflict would keep 12 million barrels per day offline during the third quarter. The new estimate is 7 million barrels per day.

That five-million-barrel reduction reflects a faster-than-expected recovery in flows through the Strait of Hormuz and a meaningful ramp-up in regional production from alternative routes.

Saudi Arabia rerouted up to 7 million barrels per day through its East-West pipeline at the peak of the disruption. The UAE and Iraq have been expanding alternative export capacity and increasing output. Iran also resumed crude exports to Asian buyers that had been blocked by the U.S. naval blockade.

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Two crude tankers carrying just under 2 million barrels sailed through the strait on June 22, a tangible sign that traffic is picking up, Investing.com noted.

UBS now expects roughly 80% of the disrupted supply to return within three months, with about 90% back by year-end.

Neither number signals a complete recovery, but both are meaningfully better than what the market was pricing in when Brent traded above $100.

Brent below $80: what that price actually tells investors

Brent crude settled at $77.90 on June 22, down 3.31% on the day, Investing.com reported. That compares to a wartime peak of about $118 to $120 in March. Most of the risk premium the market built up over months of conflict disruption has now been unwound.

The price drop is a real signal. When traders stop believing a supply shock will last, they pull the safety buffer out of crude prices quickly. The move below $80 tells you the market has largely stopped pricing in the worst-case Hormuz scenarios that dominated sentiment in April.

Staunovo added a note of caution alongside the improved outlook. He said market positioning has become relatively lean, which means any renewed flare-up in tensions could push prices sharply higher again.

The recovery in Brent is fragile in that sense. It reflects an expectation about what happens next, not certainty about what has already occurred.

Energy prices feed directly into transportation, manufacturing, and food costs.

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Why the recovery will take longer than the price move suggests

UBS’s warning about logistical and operational bottlenecks is the part of the note that deserves the most attention. Supply recovery and supply normalization are not the same thing, and the market often treats them as if they are.

Restoring shipping routes, clearing storage backlogs, ramping refinery throughput, and rebuilding upstream production all run on different timelines.

ANZ Research noted that early gains will be driven by logistics and shipping rather than production, according to Investing.com. Later gains depend on upstream and refinery recovery. The firm described full restoration this year as unlikely.

The pipeline picture tells a similar story. As TheStreet reported, Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline was already running near maximum capacity during the crisis, and Iraq’s main alternative export route through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline is only now being expanded toward a new target capacity.

The physical infrastructure of the recovery has real ceilings.

What a lower oil price means for inflation and the Fed

Energy prices feed directly into transportation, manufacturing, and food costs. A sustained move lower in Brent changes the inflation calculation in ways that matter for central banks and for the investors watching them.

Earlier in the conflict, UBS had pushed back its expectations for Fed rate cuts, projecting two quarter-point reductions later in 2026 after energy inflation kept pressure on the Fed’s policy path.

Lower crude does not reset that timeline automatically, but it removes one of the more persistent arguments for keeping rates higher for longer.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration cut its 2026 global oil demand forecast by 1.1 million barrels per day in its June report, driven by demand destruction that set in when prices were at their peak.

The EIA expects that demand to bounce back in 2027 as prices fall and supply flows return. That sequence — price falls first, demand recovers later — is what gives central banks room to maneuver if the supply rebound holds.

The risk to that picture is the same one Staunovo flagged.

Oil markets have rewarded pessimism for most of 2026. The current recovery is real, but the underlying geopolitical situation that caused it has not been permanently resolved.

Another breakdown in the U.S.-Iran talks could push supply fears back into the price fast, and a lean market positioning means the moves could be sharp.