Oil prices could go ‘parabolic’, putting global economy in ‘critical situation,’ says Trafigura chief

‘We have got a critical situation. I really think we have a problem for the next six months…once it gets to these parabolic states, markets can move and they can spike quite a lot.’

— Jeremy Weir, chief executive, Trafigura

That’s Jeremy Weir, who heads up Trafigura, one of the world’s largest commodity traders, sounding the alarm bell at the FT Global Boardroom conference on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times. He’s the latest bigwig to sound the alarm over the potential for global economic turmoil as the Russia-Ukraine war stokes energy-market volatility.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon last week warned of a potential economic “hurricane.” Wars, he said, “have unintended consequences and this happens to be within the commodity markets of the world wheat, oil, gas and stuff like that which, in my view, will continue. We’re not taking the proper actions to protect Europe from what’s going to happen in oil in the short run and we’re not taking the proper actions to protect you all … it almost has to go up in price.”

A parabolic move would be one in which prices accelerate exponentially to the upside. Weir told the conference that oil prices were highly likely to hit $150 a barrel or more in coming months as the market wrestles with strains on supply chains as Russia attempts to shift oil exports away from Europe, the report said.