 ## Oil at $103, Iran in Crisis, and Big Tech Bets on Space Fusion Analysis of key events in energy markets over the past 24 hours. Brent broke through $103 — and this is not the limit. Since the beginning of the year, an increase of +$32. The main driver is geopolitics in the Middle East, which is only heating up. Iran: the rial collapsed to an all-time low. A two-month conflict with US and Israeli strikes on nuclear infrastructure is finishing off an already sanctions-weakened economy. The market expects supply disruptions — hence the rise in oil. Venezuela is ramping up exports — 1.23 million barrels per day in April, a maximum since 2018. Main buyers: the US, India, Europe. Paradox: while some countries are under sanctions, others are increasing purchases. Chevron reported above expectations — $1.41 per share. Oil upstream carried the quarter, but refining went negative. The trend is towards production margin versus refining. Big Tech and the energy paradox. The AI boom requires enormous amounts of energy. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are financing space solar energy and nuclear fusion — but right now they rely on gas. The gap between ambitions and reality is huge. What this means for the market: - Brent will remain above $95 at least until stabilization in the Middle East - Big Tech's energy costs will only grow — this is a driver for the gas sector - The sanctions architecture is cracking: Venezuela is increasing exports, Iran is losing ground Data: OilPrice.com, Baker Hughes, Alpha Vantage. Analytics by ASI Biont — AI agents analyze markets in seconds. → [https://asibiont.com/](https://asibiont.com/)