Show HN: I simulated closing the Strait of Hormuz on real oil trade data

(globaloilnetwork.staffinganalytics.io)

39 points | by eliotho 1 day ago

9 comments

  • runlaszlorun 0 minutes ago
    Very cool. I'll def check this out more later on.
  • HarHarVeryFunny 1 day ago
    What concrete predictions does your model make?

    What developments in pricing/other would indicate that your model is wrong or incomplete?

    Nice website regardless, but I'm a bit skeptical that the dynamics of the global oil/energy market can be accurately predicted.

    • eliotho 1 day ago
      >What concrete predictions does your model make?

      Well, the model is less of a prediction and more of a stress testing tool. But under the hypothetical closure scenarios it shows the timing the oil reserves of distant countries exhaust, as well as the systemic effects on pricing (the France paradox).

      >What developments in pricing/other would indicate that your model is wrong or incomplete? The model has a stylized way of incorporating pricing as a function of the total supply. In practice, when countries ration their oil that's beyond the scope of the model. That being said, the implied pricing trajectory is estimated and could be tested (the staircase graph showing prices constant while countries absorb the shock with their reserves and rebalanced whenever there is a reserve depletion).

      >Nice website regardless, but I'm a bit skeptical that the dynamics of the global oil/energy market can be accurately predicted. Thank you! Indeed, but I think having at least a stylized testing tool might be useful for policymakers :$ (assuming decisions are ever data-driven lol)

  • firasd 1 hour ago
    Very interesting. Here in India people were very concerned about potential cooking gas shortages (LPG) when the disruptions began which is also a good example of usually-overlooked dependencies on the the Strait
    • eliotho 56 minutes ago
      and the interesting thing is that the common factor is that all these crises (oil, financial, gas) spread silently until a node collapses and there is a domino effect over the whole network
  • sebzuddas 53 minutes ago
    What modelling approach are you using, and where can I learn more about it? Really cool, btw.
    • eliotho 48 minutes ago
      Thanks, the modeling is similar math to the financial banking networks paper by Eisenberg and Noe Systemic Risk in Financial Systems (used as a stress tool by regulators after the 2008 financial crisis). My adaptation is combining this with the inventory management part in my article: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.17491
  • kingjimmy 54 minutes ago
    Are emergency stockpiles calculated correctly? China should not be the first to be exposed.
    • repeekad 32 minutes ago
      China hides its stockpile numbers, and estimates are only what we can see. After buying loads of sanctioned oil for stockpiles, they are perfectly positioned to take advantage of trumps blunders in the straight and likely will get to set the price of oil if they aren’t already..
      • eliotho 29 minutes ago
        Which is the interesting game-theoretic aspect of the whole conflict. China really hasn't revealed their hand
    • eliotho 53 minutes ago
      For the importer nodes those are IEA mandates. In the specific China case, the UN Comtrade data doesn't report sanctioned oil (Iran)
  • tamimio 36 minutes ago
    But in reality this won’t happen, because China won’t be happy and will force Iran to a deal like last time or they will lose all the parts and intelligence tech they are providing to them.
  • refulgentis 1 hour ago
    I really do appreciate the effort but the data doesn’t reflect current conditions, and it’s falsified given it’s been virtually closed for months, certainly the same as 30% throughout that is the models default parameter, and we didn’t see ex. prices at $150/barrel 3 weeks in, or a host of other things it predicts.

    EDIT: I’m not saying it doesn’t matter the strait is closed - it does! - it’s just, what are we to do with a model that generically tells us oil barrel prices is at $150 3 weeks in, when we are months in?

    • eliotho 1 hour ago
      That's kind of the point because it hasn't been totally 100% closed. There's both sanctioned and unsanctioned oil flowing, which is the point of the scenarios in the simulation. Also it's more of a simulation/stress tool at a sustained closure than a prediction one