Rethink prompt: Why did the Iran-Israel conflict barely shake oil prices?

livemint.com:

When Iran shot off rockets at Israel, analysts across the world waited with bated breath in anticipation of an oil-price spike. Some expected crude oil to cross $100 per barrel within days and hurt a global economy already reeling from supply chain bottlenecks. The ‘First Oil Shock’ of 1973 was recalled, when an Arab oil embargo disrupted Western economies.

In this instance, however, oil prices went in the opposite direction. By the first week of May, oil was trading at a 3-month low. In what turned out to be a benign geo-political event, both oil spot and futures prices assumed normalcy quickly and they again seem range-bound, at least for now.

Amid the chaos, what spike-fearing analysts may have overlooked is the state of the global economy and evolution of oil supply chains. Broad assessments reveal that the world’s three major oil consumers have significantly diversified their supply chains and are less vulnerable than they were back in 1967 or 1973.The world today is a different place. Consumer countries are not only more technologically advanced, but strategically agile.

Taking lessons from the 1973 embargo imposed by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), big consumers have succeeded in not only securing their own supplies, but also forging alliances with non-Opec producers. Consider the hydrocarbon strategy of the US, the world’s largest consumer of oil. With the help of advanced exploration and ‘fracking’ techniques, the US has emerged as the world’s largest oil producer ahead of Saudi Arabia, which controls Opec.