Oil Companies are Sounding the Alarm on Inventories. Here's What You Need to Know.

Despite a U.S.-Iran agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and falling oil prices, major oil companies warn that energy markets won't normalize quickly. Depleted inventories must be rebuilt, which will sustain higher oil prices longer than Wall Street expects. The U.S. strategic energy reserve is at its lowest level since 1983, and global reserves also need replenishment before supply-demand balance is restored.