Lead: The 8.7% drop in Brent to $94.62 on November 5, 2026, is not a mere signal; in Tehran, a chain of public relations from the Ministry of Oil, the Eitan network, and the 'Energy Line' media engineers the price narrative and drives the market towards tomorrow's risks with a political agenda; with names, signatures, and clear pathways of money and messages on the table.
The story is simple and direct: On September 12, 2021, Javad Owji officially appointed 'Ali Forouzandeh' as the Director General of Public Relations at the Ministry of Oil; from that point, the link between the Ministry of Oil's information room and the policy research circles close to the 'Eitan' network and the fresh platform 'Energy Line' was tightened. Today, as Brent hovers around $95 and WTI around $88, this information-media link tells the oil market what constitutes 'risk' and what constitutes 'exposure'. The names are clear, and so are the dates.
Read more: Sanctioning the Indian couple managing the network for registering fake ships for Iranian oil
First name: 'Seyed Ehsan Hosseini'; a journalist who is now explicitly recognized as the 'Editor-in-Chief of Energy Line' and connects oil and politics with an aggressive stance on his official pages. 'Energy Line' is simultaneously a media outlet and a video channel whose videos circulate with headlines about 'unreturned oil currency' and 'trustees' coup'. This is not just a media brand; it is a production line of agendas.
Second name: 'Sajjad Taheri'; a manager whom 'Energy Line' itself introduced as 'responsible manager' and who went behind the microphone in an official meeting 'Media Representatives with Public Relations Managers of the Ministry of Oil' nine months ago. That is exactly where the distance between 'critic' and 'information source' should be maintained, the circle was closed, and the owner of the platform sat at the official meeting. This point of contact is precisely where the market must see it: when the message producer gains preferential access to the Ministry's command room, his next message is priced in the market as a 'signal from within'.
Third name: 'Ali Forouzandeh'; the then Director General of Public Relations at the Ministry of Oil who from the very beginning read the version of 'broad engagement with the media' and 'the necessity of explanation'. On paper, it doesn't look bad; but when the output of 'engagement' turns into the re-publication of corporate messages on 'Energy Line' and the invitation of the media manager to official ministry meetings, 'explanation' becomes 'reproduction' and the risk of 'conflict of interest' rises. In an industry where every sentence can impact the future curve of Brent and gasoline crack spreads, this is playing with fire.
What does the market say today? On November 5, 2026, Brent fluctuated between $94.62 and $95.37 after a sharp daily drop of 8.7%, while the WTI index stood around $88. This sudden drop occurred against the backdrop of political signals from the U.S., but for traders pricing Iran's risk, the internal narrative war in Iran—from 'trustees' to 'oil currency'—is a complementary factor for the fluctuation of expectations. When platforms close to the Ministry of Oil's public relations pump scenarios of 'unreturned oil money' simultaneously with internal political disputes, the risk premium oscillates.
Here, a clear operational chain is observed: the minister's decree (appointment of the public relations director), the cycle of 'engagement with the media', preferential access for active media personnel to official meetings, and simultaneously producing content that the general audience and even part of its trading circle calls 'signal from an informed source'. Where does the profit from this chain come from? The market's technical answer: from the shifting of expectations and from the coverage of corporate content in media that should analyze independently, not become advertising arms of oil and refining companies. Signs of this coverage have been repeatedly seen on the front page of 'Energy Line': congratulatory messages from refinery managers, news from public relations of state oil companies, and advertisements for oil and petrochemical project tenders alongside seemingly critical analyses. This arrangement is not coincidental.
But how has the ideological circle of the matter, namely the 'Network of Think Tanks of Iran (Eitan)', played a role in this field? Official documents from Eitan since 2000 introduce it as a network of specialized analytical centers aimed at 'aiding decision-making'; this same network has held 'energy policy research internships' in recent years and published strategic positions on the Strait of Hormuz and the energy governance structure on its official Telegram channels. The connection between this 'analysis circle' and the 'Ministry of Oil's Public Relations Room' and 'Energy Line' platform is what creates numbers; a number called 'the impact of narrative on price'.
The climax of narrative construction was the 'trustees' file and the discussion of '$4.7 billion'; the debate between 'Vahid Ishtari' and 'Hossein Ghorban Zadeh' on November 25, 2026, was held right in the middle of this field, and the media network surrounding oil polarized the narrative: on one side the accusation of 'unreturned oil money', on the other side the denial and counter-accusation. For the energy market, more important than the truth of the claims is the 'scope of impact' of this event on expectations; each time this narrative war flares up, the risk premium for Iranian exports and price differentials are reconfigured.
The editor-in-chief of 'Energy Line' has repeatedly reiterated the narrative of the 'trustees' coup' in multiple channels and discussions and has published videos with direct headlines against the oil sales structure. At the same time, the audience statistics for this platform have risen, and each controversial video has received tens of thousands of views. When such a platform receives official access legitimacy from the Ministry of Oil's public relations room, the market translates the message as a 'semi-official signal' and impacts future prices and even crack spreads. Here, a clear demand arises: 'A complete list of the Ministry of Oil's media interactions with media outlets, including contract numbers and service descriptions, must be published immediately.'
Why is this demand important for the public? Because in a market where we currently live with Brent at $95 and WTI at $88, every half-percent change in Iran's risk premium affects the public budget, feed rates for petrochemicals, super gasoline prices, and the financial statements of refining companies. If the media agenda proceeds with preferential access and hidden budgets for 'explanation', the public effectively pays the cost of 'reproducing the narrative' with rising prices or shortages. This means that the oil media policy is directly the pricing policy of the people's table.
Returning to the starting point: Today, the global oil market experienced a 'major fluctuation' under the shadow of U.S.-Iran political risk, but the future of the market is written not only by the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. inventory data but also by 'the narrative war in Tehran'. As long as the Ministry of Oil does not clarify exactly which media it has engaged with, on what date, what service was purchased for what amount, and why it has invited the 'official critical' media managers to decision-making rooms, the market has the right to price every subsequent message as a 'guide to the flow of money'. Here, media extortion is proven or denied in court; however, the conflict of interest is resolved by the ministry's balance sheet through the public release of contracts. Today is the time to publish that balance sheet; without omission, with numbers and signatures.
Key Numbers
- Brent on November 5, 2026: daily low of $94.62, fluctuation range of $93.44 to $95.52; daily drop of 8.7%.
- WTI on November 5, 2026: around $88.05; within a daily range of $86.65 to $88.43.
- Signature of the decree appointing 'Ali Forouzandeh' as the Director General of Public Relations at the Ministry of Oil: September 12, 2021.
- Presence of 'Sajjad Taheri' (responsible manager of Energy Line) in an official meeting of the Ministry of Oil with the media: nine months ago.
- Capacity to bring the narrative of 'Energy Line' to the market: 33.3 thousand members of the Telegram channel; video on 'Paknejad/oil currency' received 14.7 thousand views.
- Official introduction of 'Eitan' as the network of think tanks of Iran since 2000 and holding energy policy research courses in 2026.
- Wave of debate on '$4.7 billion' on November 25, 2026, and its impact on expectations in the Iranian oil market.
- Direct effect of the narrative war on the market: adjustment of Iran's risk premium simultaneous with Brent's drop/surge; recorded a drop of 8% to below $95 the day after U.S. political signals.
Read more: Iran's fuel smuggling to Pakistan using handmade containers
