Could Iran send oil to $440 a barrel?

by Business Insider

The scariest Iran scenario yet comes from Bob Bandos, CEO of marine logistics and services company GAC North America.

Bandos tells Pierre Bertrand of the International Business Times:

Tankers can haul 1.8 million barrels of oil a day through the strait. If that supply is choked off, the effect would be similar to the fuel shortages of the 1970s – but more extreme, Bandos said.

“That would be nothing compared to this,” Bandos said, who added the shortage would be global.

If the 1973 embargo experience repeats itself, the price of a barrel of oil could soar to $440 a barrel.

This scenario is more bearish than we’ve heard from most banks. Societe Generale, for instance, said oil could rise to $200 were the Strait closed.

Of course the $440 figure was picked up by the pro-Iranian Tehran Times (via @DougKass).