Second, to a belief that the oil price would not stay high for long because the war (at least so far as it affects the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz) was sure to end quickly. That belief appeared vividly, as recently as yesterday morning, in a Brent oil futures curve that sloped down at a historically steep angle. This deep backwardation in oil futures showed a mad scramble for barrels in the very near term, but no particular worry about getting affordable crude a month or two down the road.