The global oil market is much more exposed to the latest re-escalation in the Middle East, as most of the buffers that cushioned the initial shock of the Iran war are wearing thin and unable to prevent the next oil price spike. The reality dawned on the oil market last week, when the re-escalation all but closed the Strait of Hormuz, again, and the surge of tankers evacuating from the Persian Gulf abruptly stopped. The new closure of the key oil chokepoint comes as the world has exhausted the buffers on which it relied in the second quarter. Drained strategic and commercial inventories in many key oil-consuming economies, including the United States, are setting the stage for further oil price rallies during the busiest oil demand season. The fund’s commodities experts noted that the buffers that helped prevent a larger price spike in the second quarter are now running low.