The oil market has a dirty secret.
It's not about how much crude exists.
It's about which crude the world can actually use.
API Gravity decides everything:
🔺 Too light: refineries can't process it efficiently
🔻 Too heavy: costs a fortune to break down
⚫ Just right: maximum output, minimum cost
Iranian Light crude sits in that perfect middle zone.
33 to 36° API. Moderate sulfur. Refinery gold.
The global system wasn't built for Venezuelan heavy crude.
It wasn't optimized for ultra light US shale either.
It was built for medium grade crude, exactly what flows through Hormuz.
This is why closing the Strait isn't just a supply shock.
It's a quality shock.
Fewer barrels is manageable.
The wrong grade of barrels breaks the entire chain.
Oil pricing isn't just supply and demand.
It's molecular weight and refinery compatibility.
Next time you see an oil headline, ask what grade they're talking about.
Because the grade is the whole story.