Bo.mi.to.lotto

Higher for longer - that was the core message in my discussion with @CNBC Squawk Box Europe this morning. Everyone is focused on the spot price of oil. But look further out: calendar 2027 Brent is holding around $97 a barrel. That’s close to $100 priced in for an entire year, not simply a short-term spike. That has implications for everything from industrial and agriculture production to transportation costs and inflation in the months ahead. Now look at energy equities. The Munificent 7 are hitting all-time highs as the back end of the oil curve approaches $100. This is looking increasingly structural, not transient. It's the Revenge of the Old Economy in action. The old economy is short-duration, asset-heavy and benefiting from higher commodity prices, whereas the new economy is long-duration, asset-light and increasingly exposed to higher interest rates and inflation. The irony in all this is that the old economy is fuelling the new economy. AI needs electricity, transformers, copper, high-voltage cables and critical minerals. None of that exists without the physical world. ‘Generalists’ in the market are beginning to recognise what specialists across the physical economy has been telling us for some time: higher for longer isn't just centred on bottlenecks and disruption to the flow of hydrocarbons out of the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, it’s a structural shift that is likely here to stay. We’re electrifying the world for many reasons, chief among them the so-called energy transition. The original driving force of the transition, led by the Carter administration, wasn’t the need to adopt clean energy with climate change in mind; it was driven by an urgent need for energy security in response to the oil shocks of the 1970s. We’re seeing a repeat today: the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and bottlenecks elsewhere, impacting our ability to source and transport hydrocarbons, is forcing states to turn to electrification. Great discussion with @cnbcKaren and Steve Sedgwick - thank you for having me on.