The Hormuz crisis and the real cost of a barrel of oil, with Paola Rodriguez-Masiu

Let’s Talk Energy and dive into the details of the stressed physical oil market. According to the news, Brent oil is trading around $95 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate or WTI is around $88. But refiners will tell you that finding a barrel that can be delivered today at those prices is difficult, and they may need to pay as much as $15 or $20 more, challenging the economics of making gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. That difference between the financial – or paper markets – and the market for physical barrels has big implications for fuel supplies and how we think about the potential impacts of the war on the global economy.

• How much does it really cost to buy a barrel of oil, and how has the gap between futures and physical markets trended since the start of the war?

• What does this mean for the refining sector and the prices consumers will pay to fill up their tank or buy a plane ticket?

• What options do governments have left to try to limit the economic damage from the energy crisis?