This is Macro Voices, the free weekly financial podcast targeting professional finance, high net worth individuals, family offices, and other sophisticated investors.

Macrovoices is all about the brightest minds in the world of finance

and macroeconomics telling it like it is, bullish or bearish, no holds barred. Now, here are your

hosts, Eric Townsend and Patrick Suresna. Macrovoices episode 484 was produced on June 12th, 2025. I'm Eric Townsend. Commodity

context founder Rory Johnston returns as this week's feature interview guest to talk all things crude oil.

Rory says the WTI forward curve has taken an unprecedented and bizarre shape.

Regular listeners will recall that I have a trade on long Z5 short M6 time spreads

for the exact reason that I noticed the exact same anomaly that Rory noticed in the evolution

of the WTI forward curve.

So are you ready for the big reveal?

What's the market telling us with this unprecedented inflection point recently forming

around the start of 2026 where the WTI futures forward curve flips suddenly from steep

backwardation to moderate contango? Listeners, are you ready to hear from

true crude oil market experts and veterans what this term structure signal means to the market?

Well, then you better tune into a different podcast because Rory and I don't have a goddamn clue.

We're both stumped by this one, but we'll be happy to throw you a few educated guesses

in this week's feature interview.

The interview was recorded on Tuesday before speculation that a military strike on Iran could be imminent,

which spiked crude prices, almost another $4 higher on Wednesday during regular trading,

and almost $5 if you include the spike that happened just after the 6 p.m. futures reopen.

So my guess is that by the time you hear this podcast, either there will or will not have been a very significant military strike on Iran

and crude oil will either be retracing to the downside if there was not or probably even

...