Physical crude oil prices hit $140 per barrel last week, well above the prices fetched on financial markets, Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz said on Monday.
“What happens is that if I used to buy crude oil, where the base reference was Brent minus $3, Brent minus $4, now it’s being bought, especially in Asia, at Brent plus $20, Brent plus $25 per barrel,” Imaz told an event in Madrid.
“Physical transactions are under a lot of strain,” he added, alluding to the supply crisis sparked by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and subsequent blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; Editing by David Latona)