Wood Mackenzie
Edinburgh-based energy and mining research consultancy, owned by Verisk Analytics.
Wood Mackenzie, the Edinburgh research consultancy owned by Verisk Analytics, published data on 24 July showing Saudi Red Sea crude bypass volumes easing 41% to 2.39 million barrels a day, feeding this desk's tracking of the reroute.
Last refreshed: 31 July 2026 · Appears in 3 active topics
With Brent at $126, how far does Wood Mackenzie think oil prices will climb?
Timeline for Wood Mackenzie
Published data showing Saudi Red Sea crude bypass fell 41% by June
European Oil Markets: June's calm was borrowed, not bankedMentioned in: Brent ends worst quarter since 2020
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European Energy MarketsBackground
Wood Mackenzie is a global energy, renewables and natural resources research consultancy, founded in 1923 in Edinburgh and acquired by Verisk Analytics in 2015. It produces commodity price forecasts, supply-and-demand models and strategic analysis used by oil majors, banks and governments worldwide.
Its oil analyst Ann-Louise Hittle forecast Brent Crude at $150 a barrel during the March 2026 Iran conflict spike, when Brent itself peaked at $126, calling $200 not outside the realms of possibility while the Strait of Hormuz remained disrupted. On the European gas side, analyst Tom Marzec-Manser has tracked the market through the EU's short-term Russian LNG ban and the Troll A and Hammerfest outages that narrowed the storage margin later in spring.
That combination, an independent Edinburgh base outside the trading desks of the big US and European banks, and named analysts willing to publish specific price and volume forecasts, gives Wood Mackenzie's numbers unusual traction with the financial press and, in turn, with the traders and portfolio managers who read it.
Wood Mackenzie's bypass data reversed course
Wood Mackenzie published data on 24 July showing Saudi Red Sea crude bypass volumes easing 41% to 2.39 million barrels a day by June, down from a March peak of 4.07 million. The figures illustrate the firm's standard role on this desk: a licensed, independent data series that traders and analysts cite as a common reference point rather than a directional call.
That role also exposed the report's limits. The Houthi blockade declared on 23 July reversed the bypass decline within a week, so by the time Wood Mackenzie's June figures reached readers the underlying trend they described had already turned. The lag is a structural feature of monthly data series, not a forecasting failure specific to the firm.
What is Wood Mackenzie?
What did Wood Mackenzie forecast for oil prices in the Iran conflict?
Who is Ann-Louise Hittle at Wood Mackenzie?
How does Wood Mackenzie compare to Rystad Energy on oil forecasts?
Who owns Wood Mackenzie?
What does Wood Mackenzie say about European gas supply in 2026?
Who is Tom Marzec-Manser at Wood Mackenzie?
