Crude prices unlikely to cool-off near-term, says Bruno Verstraete of Lakefield Partners

Oil prices may not cool-off in near-term because speculative flows will move into that space and the trajectory of crude prices depend on the political rhetoric in the days to come, said Bruno Verstrate of Lakefield Partners.

“It is clear that there is tension building in that space and that is the reason why oil is on the upside,” said Verstrate.

The oil price shot to its highest in four years on Tuesday, catapulted by upcoming US sanctions on Iranian crude exports and the apparent reluctance of Opec and Russia to raise output to offset the potential hit to global supply.

On tariff wars, he said the talks are not over and China and the US will have to sit at the table and look at it because the US is still a net buyer of a lot of Chinese goods.

On emerging markets (EM), Verstrate said EMs still have benefited over developed markets at this stage.