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Not off the boil yet

The war is far from over, ADNOC is on a ship-buying spree, US imports of Saudi crude hit zero and China's trade performance remains strong.
Published: August 7, 2026
Written by:
Edward Hayden-Briffett

Edward Hayden-Briffett

Research Analyst, The Officials
Edward Hayden-Briffett
and
Will Cunliffe

Will Cunliffe

Research Analyst, The Officials
Will Cunliffe
Reviewed by:
Jorge Montepeque

Jorge Montepeque

Head of Benchmarking, The Officials
Jorge Montepeque
Edition: Asia EditionVolume: 3Issue: 150
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The war is far from over, ADNOC is on a ship-buying spree, US imports of Saudi crude hit zero and China's trade performance remains strong.

Folks, make no mistake the war has not ended and will not end anytime soon. We are either in a boiling over or just simmering phase. We alternate and at this moment the US does not have too many missiles, so things will quiet down until inventories rebuild again. Per Fars, Iran now wants US and Israeli ships barred from Hormuz altogether, with compensation from "hostile countries" before anyone passes. That won't fly in Washington. As the Atlantic Council's Thomas Warrick put it, both sides are hiking demands rather than trading concessions. So much for a breakthrough. And there is nothing the US can do as the Iranians have the upper hand in the Strait. Tehran isn't just talking. Fars reports Iranian naval forces struck "hostile targets" at the mouth of the Strait, with two explosions heard near Qeshm Island. Predictably, the shooting is scaring off the ships. Kpler see Hormuz traffic down to 33 vessels Mon-Thu, from 50 the week before.

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Written by

Edward Hayden-Briffett

Research Analyst, The Officials
Edward Hayden-Briffett

Will Cunliffe

Research Analyst, The Officials
Will Cunliffe

About Asia Edition

Benchmark reports published at the close of the trading day in Asia.

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