Iran’s currency plunged to a record low in recent days against the US dollar as the ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports continues to strain the country’s economy.On the black market on Wednesday, the rial fell to around 1.80 million per dollar, according to currency-tracking websites Bonbast and AlanChand. At the start of the conflict two months ago, the exchange rate stood at about 1.70 million rials per dollar. While Iran maintains multiple official exchange rates, these platforms are widely seen as reliable indicators of real market trends.Experts warn the sharp depreciation is likely to fuel inflation further, as the cost of imported goods from food and medicines to electronics and industrial raw materials, rises in line with the dollar.The blockade has also hit a crucial source of government revenue by disrupting oil exports, limiting Iran’s access to foreign currency. Despite this, Iranian authorities appear to be relying on the country’s long-standing sanctions-era economic resilience to withstand the pressure.Four weeks into a ceasefire that has largely halted active fighting, tensions remain high between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route through which about a fifth of global oil and gas supplies typically pass. Its continued disruption is affecting global markets, pushing up fuel, food, and transport costs worldwide, even as several countries call for the waterway to be reopened.Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the strait in exchange for lifting the blockade. In an interview with Axios, he defended the strategy, saying, “The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said that the combined impact of sanctions and the naval blockade would inflict long-term damage on Iran’s economy.“The Treasury Department, through Economic Fury, has targeted Iran’s international shadow banking infrastructure, access to crypto, shadow fleet, weapons procurement networks, funding for terrorist proxies in the region, and independent Chinese ‘teapot’ refineries that support Iran’s oil trade. These actions have disrupted tens of billions of dollars in revenue that would be used to fund terrorism,” Scott said.“Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export terminal, is soon nearing storage capacity, which will force the regime to reduce oil production, resulting in an additional approximately $170 million per day in lost revenue, and causing permanent damage to Iran’s oil infrastructure. Treasury will continue to exert maximum pressure and any person, vessel, or entity facilitating illicit flows to Tehran risks exposure to U.S. sanctions,” he added.Iran, however rejected the US claims and criticised the strategy. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf dismissed Bessent’s remarks, calling his advice “junk.”“3 days in, no well exploded. We could extend to 30 and livestream the well here. That was the kind of junk advice the US admin gets from people like Bessent who also push the blockade theory and cranked oil up to $120+. Next stop:140. The issue isn’t the theory, it’s the mindset,” Ghalibaf said in a post on X.

This is the fastest tablet OnePlus has ever made and shipped for consumers to buy. Undoubtedly a fantastic foundation to build with. I’ve often noted the trajectory of usefulness that Android tablets have been on for the past couple of years, and while Google has done its bit to improve Android for this form factor of devices, it is the tablet makers such as OnePlus who are putting in the hard yards to make the software productivity focused. The OnePlus Pad 4, retaining the large display real estate of its predecessor, adds more in terms of what the company brackets as “PC level productivity”.

The OnePlus Pad 4 is priced ₹54,999 for the 8GB memory and 256GB storage spec, while 12GB+512GB variant (I’d recommend this) is priced at ₹59,999. Chances are you may also be considering the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 ( ₹1,13,900 onwards), the Xiaomi Pad 8 ( ₹33,999 onwards; but a smaller screen comparatively but with nano-texture matte option), and the Oppo Pad 5 (that’s ₹27,999 onwards; also a smaller screen) for your next tablet purchase. One that come in the same ballpark as the OnePlus Pad 4 in terms of the large 13.2-inch screen real estate, is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, and that’s significantly more expensive at ₹1,22,999 onwards. Suddenly, the OnePlus Pad 4 already seems good value.

I’ll first broach an important reason why you’d be considering a OnePlus Pad 4, and that’s productivity—as a laptop replacement, a second machine for travel and so on. Flexibility and subjectivity is endless. The good news is, the work OnePlus has done with trying to make a tablet feel as close to a laptop as far as productivity possibilities goes, is par excellence. That familiarity, I insist is a prerequisite to get any sort of work done, and that isn’t always possible on a consumption first interface. The multi-tasking improvements extend the number of windows you can have open at the same time, some in the background—it’s five now. And with the keyboard accessory that also has a very useful trackpad (I would strongly recommend these, if this is your laptop replacement), switching between them is simple.

Two key updates within OxygenOS to make file management simpler. First, is the multi-column view within the Files app, which gives you a fair preview of any file (an understandable glimpse of the contents, file size, date saved and so on) without having to open every file one by one. This is very similar to how Finder can be configured in macOS or how the Files app on an iPad can be set—good to see OnePlus bringing the experience closer to this convenience. Secondly, there is support for external drives connected via USB-C, which you can now drag-and-drop between the tablet and that external storage.

The troika of productivity brilliance is rounded off with the O+ Connect app proving key to use a Windows or Mac or an iPad as a second screen—with mouse and keyboard seamlessly working across the two devices. File transfers, particularly the heavier ones, become simpler, cross-device. If your tablet or the PC also gets the bulk of messaging or email notifications, replicating that on a screen you may be actively using more at a particular time, means you’ll not miss out on those either. OnePlus has always done well to build that ecosystem play, at least among its phones and tablets, and this extension to welcome computing devices into the fold, is a very welcome move.

This observation sits at the intersection of productivity and subjectiveness, but I’m very happy to note that OnePlus has redone the keyboard accessory. It’s better now. From that fairly unusable two part design, to a more reassuring (and premium looking) design that uses the magnet system to dock the OnePlus Pad 4 with it floating some way above the top of the keyboard. It looks nice, feels nice, and can be used in the lap while you may be travelling—something a two part design didn’t at all allow. That said, I have no assessment of the keyboard quality, key responsiveness or the trackpad experience to illustrate, since OnePlus is yet to ship this review accessory.

There is a certain continuity to the design of the OnePlus Pad 4, when looked at sequentially with the OnePlus Pad 3. That’s most certainly a positive, because this clean and well thought through design language worked last year, and works now as well. The metal chassis, the 5.94mm slim design and with the weight well in check, this simply works. You’ve two colour choices, the Dune Glow with a bronze-esque hue and a green-er Sage Mist with a frosted look, both providing nice contrasts to pick from.

Generationally, a big step forward as far as specs and therefore the underlying future proofing potential. OnePlus gave last year’s Pad 3 the flagship chip of that time, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. The OnePlus Pad 4 stays the course with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, arguably the best silicon OnePlus could have used this time around. This alongside a larger battery too (13380mAh with 80-watt fast charging versus 12140mAh with 80-watt fast charging) are just the right upgrades where they were needed.

I’d give a lot of weightage to the Cryo-velocity Cooling technology which is essentially a combination of graphite composite and a large vapour chamber that’s claimed to be 45260mm square in volume, to keep the thermals in check. You may not realise heating on the back panel often on a tablet, but the key is, this does help keep performance consistent without heating induced performance slowdown introducing a scenario of sluggish app response or app switching. As an every day work machine or a second computing device, not noticing any changes, is a good thing.

Specs across the board seem to be on point with the OnePlus Pad 4. The 13.2-inch display size isn’t something many Android tablet makers offer, particularly at these price points (the 14.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra costs significantly higher, at ₹122999 onwards). The Xiaomi Pad 8 with the 11.2-inch display still doesn’t have a larger screen sized sibling, in this category. Attention to the finer details such as an antenna design that’s been redone (OnePlus claims AI is at play here too, I’ll let them have this claim) for better device-to-device connectivity, tells you that the OnePlus Pad 4 has been cradler after considerable thought and with unwavering attention.

But then OnePlus goes ahead and launches the Pad 4 in Wi-Fi-only spec, which is a big miss for the audience this tablet is trying to appeal to—the convenience of 5G via a physical SIM or an eSIM remains unmatched when you quickly want to get work done, without encumbrance. It is understandable they are pushing the ecosystem play here, for their smartphones too, but not everyone will play ball—the tablet has to also appeal equally to a wider audience. This seems to be generational inertia, one that we can collectively hope will change soon enough. Even more so, because the OnePlus Pad 4 leaves remarkably little room for critique.

The United States of America, which is the largest producer of oil, holds the second largest strategic oil reserves, followed by Japan. (AI image)

Did you know that China holds the largest strategic oil reserves in the world? Amid ongoing disruptions due to the US-Iran war and blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, this fact assumes significance. Which is not to say that the world’s second largest economy is not dependent on the Middle East to meet its massive oil and energy needs. The United States of America, which is the largest producer of oil, holds the second largest strategic oil reserves, followed by Japan, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (IEA) data analysis for December 2025.During the 1970s, the United States and other members of the OECD created strategic petroleum reserves to cushion their economies against disruptions in oil supply. In March 2026, after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively shut, the United States and fellow members of the International Energy Agency jointly agreed to release emergency crude supplies from these reserves.Based on current estimates, the largest strategic crude reserves at the end of December 2025 were held by China, which significantly expanded its holdings during 2025. Substantial strategic stockpiles are also maintained across OECD Europe, as well as in parts of the Middle East and Asia, the IEA analysis says.Because many countries do not publicly disclose detailed data on their strategic oil reserves, these estimates have been prepared by IEA using a cautious methodology. For nations that do not maintain a formally designated strategic petroleum reserve, strategic inventories are defined as oil held by governments or national oil companies. In certain cases, only onshore storage volumes are included.The assessment excludes inventories stored in commercial facilities, offshore tankers, or underground storage sites. China is the sole exception, where commercial inventories are also counted as part of strategic reserves. Similarly, although some countries, including Japan, require private companies to maintain oil stocks for emergency purposes, only government-owned reserves or inventories held by state-owned national oil companies are included in these estimates.The analysis focuses on the 10 countries with the largest estimated strategic oil reserves and onshore storage capacity. Together, these nations account for roughly 70 per cent of total global strategic oil holdings.

China

China significantly expanded its strategic crude reserves in 2025. IEA estimates that the country added crude at an average rate of 1.1 million barrels per day during the year, taking total strategic oil inventories to nearly 1.4 billion barrels by December 2025.Preliminary official data suggest that China continued to build its oil stockpiles in 2026, even before the conflict involving Iran escalated.It’s noteworthy to know that China does not publicly disclose its oil inventory figures. Hence, IEA has derived the numbers using import, export, refining, and stock data from both official and third-party sources.IEA has included both government-owned and commercial crude inventories in China as strategic reserves.Government-controlled crude reserves in China are estimated to have averaged roughly 360 million barrels in December 2025.

United States of America

The US established its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in December 1975. The reserve has a maximum storage capacity of 714 million barrels of crude oil. By December 2025, holdings in the SPR stood at 413 million barrels.Inventory levels rose further to more than 415 million barrels in March 2026, just before the coordinated emergency release. As of April 10, 2026, stocks had eased to around 409 million barrels.The SPR is distinct from the country’s commercial crude inventories, which are more than 400 million barrels.

OECD Asia and Europe

Japan has the world’s third-largest strategic petroleum reserves, with government-owned stockpiles totaling 263 million barrels as of December 2025. This figure excludes oil held under international joint stockpiling arrangements, as well as commercial inventories maintained for emergency use under Japanese regulations.Under Japan’s Oil Stockpiling Act, private industry is required to maintain reserves equivalent to 70 days of domestic demand, or roughly 220 million barrels. This is separate from the government-managed strategic reserve, which covers an additional 90 days of demand.According to the IEA, countries in OECD Europe collectively held around 179 million barrels in government-owned strategic oil reserves as of December 2025.South Korea also maintained sizable strategic crude stockpiles, averaging 79 million barrels during the same period.

Other Non-OECD Countries

Outside the OECD, estimating strategic oil inventories is a challenge. With the exception of India, reliable figures for countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran are not available.Estimates for Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran are based on average refinery and commercial stock levels for December 2025, as reported by Vortexa and Kpler.Saudi Arabia is estimated to have held an average of 82 million barrels in onshore storage at the end of December 2025. This estimate excludes crude reportedly stored at leased facilities overseas, including sites in South Korea as well as the Okinawa and Kiire terminals in Japan.The United Arab Emirates held an estimated 34 million barrels of onshore oil inventories during the same period. In addition, the UAE operates substantial underground storage facilities in Fujairah, although the exact capacity and current stock levels there are not publicly known. The country is also reportedly working to expand storage capacity at that location.Beyond its domestic storage, the UAE is understood to lease additional capacity at the Yeosu port in South Korea, the Kiire terminal in Japan, and the Mangalore storage facility in India.Iran is estimated to have maintained an average of 71 million barrels of onshore oil inventories as of December 2025. Although Iran is also believed to store crude in bonded facilities in China, current stock levels at those locations are not publicly available and are therefore excluded from this estimate.

Where does India stand?

According to Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited, India held 21.4 million barrels of crude oil in its strategic petroleum reserves as of March 2025.In addition, around 3 million barrels of crude were stored at India’s Mangalore facility on behalf of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. These volumes are not counted as part of India’s strategic reserves.Under the agreement between ADNOC and Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited, ADNOC is permitted to use the Mangalore facility for commercial storage. However, half of the site’s total capacity, which is roughly 6 million barrels, must remain available for strategic use by ISPRL whenever required.India has also been evaluating options to expand its storage footprint beyond its borders. As part of these efforts, it held discussions with Oman last year regarding the possibility of leasing storage space for up to 5 million barrels of crude oil.

This summer, an absurd company plans to go public at an absurd price. If SpaceX—the rocket-maker, internet provider, artificial-intelligence lab and social network controlled by Elon Musk—raises anything close to $75bn, at a valuation anywhere near $2trn, its initial public offering (IPO) will be the financial equivalent of landing on Mars.

Already the enormous gravity of SpaceX is bending public markets. Nasdaq has changed the rules on how quickly firms are included in its index to attract Mr Musk to the exchange. Moreover, some listed companies have become public proxies for its private stock. Most obvious is Tesla. Although it owns just a sliver of SpaceX, the pair share hardware, software and Mr Musk himself. Some analysts imagine the eventual creation of a consolidated Musk Inc, an industrial Frankenstein’s monster with the body of Optimus, Tesla’s robot, and the brain of Grok, the chatbot developed by xAI, which SpaceX subsumed in February. Others fret that SpaceX’s listing could undermine Tesla: after all, why would Mr Musk’s adoring retail investors put their money into a carmaker valued at 14 times its sales when they could buy a cosmic creator of super-intelligence at 100 times?

Tesla is not the only big company whose value is tied to SpaceX. Alphabet, the parent of Google, owned 6% of it at the end of last year. This investment, made in 2015, is a large part of the $107bn of private shares on its balance-sheet, the rising valuations of which contributed almost half of Alphabet’s pre-tax profit in the first quarter. In March EchoStar, a loss-making telecoms company, improbably shot into the S&P 500 index for no reason other than the $11bn of stock in SpaceX it is set to receive in exchange for selling its spectrum licences. “We have made our bet, and that is with SpaceX,” said EchoStar’s founder after nearly five decades betting on himself.

Buying SpaceX, like buying bitcoin, can transform even the smallest company into a speculative vehicle. Consider XMax, a furniture business listed in America with only $17m of annual sales. Until recently it faced the threat of having its shares delisted because they were worth so little. Since September, though, it has aggressively bought into special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) which it says hold shares in SpaceX. Now its market value is an inexplicable $380m. Jet.ai, a tiny aviation company whose main product appears to be a flight-booking app called “CharterGPT”, attempted to collar the market’s attention in a similar way, though is still worth less than the $5m of SpaceX shares the firm says it owns through an SPV.

SpaceX stock lurks Forrest Gump-like in the background of every big financial story these days. In South Korea markets are soaring. The share price of Mirae, one of its biggest brokers, has almost tripled this year—but mostly because of its small investment in Mr Musk’s empire. SpaceX has also had a cameo in the private-credit panic. A chunk of its shares are, oddly, held by one of Blue Owl’s beleaguered lending funds.

American finance operates under the same principle as American cooking: what average Joe wants, he must have in abundance. Accordingly, many ultra-processed SpaceX-flavoured products have been produced for retail investors. Remarkably, the largest holding in one exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an SPV which holds SpaceX stock. On prediction markets anyone can wager on the date of SpaceX’s IPO, how much it will be worth, the banks on the deal and whether Mr Musk will ever make it to Mars.

There are almost as many ways to bet on the fortunes of OpenAI and Anthropic, two AI labs that also plan to list their shares this year. So important are these private firms that their fortunes, too, ricochet through public markets. Reports this week that OpenAI has missed some financial targets sent the share price of SoftBank, a Japanese conglomerate that has invested vast sums in the model-maker, down by around 10%. Meanwhile, Zoom, a video-conferencing company, has mostly escaped the recent massacre of software stocks precipitated by Anthropic’s coding capabilities—because it owns a chunk of Anthropic.

When executives from SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic tour the world’s financial capitals to drum up interest before their listings, they will, unusually, be pitching to investors who are already intimately familiar with their businesses. Once the companies have raised the mountains of capital they are after, their bosses are unlikely to be bothered too much by such shareholders. SpaceX will remain controlled by Mr Musk; OpenAI, run by Sam Altman, and Anthropic, by Dario Amodei, are just as unlikely to embrace shareholder democracy. The governance of these firms might stay more or less the same, but markets will be transformed by their listings. The magnificent seven will become the magnificent ten. For the first time investors will digest regular, audited financial information about the technology whose promise seems to be holding up the entire market.

Moonstruck

American capitalism is in the midst of a great experiment. The value of its firms is becoming far more concentrated, even as the ways to invest in them are multiplying. The result is a seemingly infinite number of wagers on a tiny cast of enormous firms. The strange shadow markets for shares in SpaceX are one extreme illustration of the trend, but the pattern is also visible on the public stockmarket it will soon join. The number of listed American companies has been in near-continuous decline since the late 1990s, though their combined profits have soared. At the same time, the number of investment vehicles has exploded: there are now more ETFs than there are listed firms. Markets are built around ever fewer famous executives—and ever more anonymous gamblers.