White House adviser says neutralizing Iran could lower global oil prices

Via JPOST:

Neutralizing Iran could make crude oil much cheaper because the threat posed by Tehran imposed a “terror premium” that inflated global oil prices for decades, a top White House adviser said in a report to be released on Monday.

Peter Navarro, who leads the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, has written in a 13-page report that tensions with Iran have added a $5 to $15 per barrel premium to crude prices, as markets price the risk of attacks or disruptions through the critical oil transit route of the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters viewed a draft of the report prepared by the White House trade and manufacturing office.

The report’s conclusion has drawn skepticism from energy market specialists. Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston, has not seen the report but said he knows of no verifiable evidence of such a premium, while it appears to ignore costs associated with military action against Iran.