The Indicator from Planet Money - A lot of gas trapped, oil reserves tapped, and Live Nation gets a (tiny) cap

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

It’s  Indicators of the Week (now on YouTube!), our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. On today’s episode: How big is this gas crisis  and could releasing oil reserves help? Also, Live Nation gets a deal from the government.  Related episodes: Are concert tickets UNDER priced? Will Trump’s shipping insurance plan work? For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey and Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

NPR. This is the Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong, and I'm joined today by my co-host, Daryan Woods. Hey, Waylon. Well, today we're also joined by Planet Money's Sarah Gonzalez. Hey, guys. Nice to be here. And on video this time, I did my hair for you.

It looks beautiful. And while everyone locks in not just their glam, but their prediction market bets for the Oscars this weekend, we here at the Indicator will lock in our... Indicator. So it's that time of the week when we talk about the most interesting numbers from the news. On today's episode, we're talking about gas prices going up, up, up. And a plan to maybe get gas prices to go back down, down, down.

And Live Nation and Ticketmaster live to see another day. Nine lives, those guys. Those underdogs. It is indicators of the week, Daryan Woods. You are up first. So my indicator is 20, as in 20 million barrels of oil trapped, which is 20% of global supply, and it's meaning gasoline prices have gone up 20%. I am watching the gas station closest to me. The numbers do keep ticking up.

Yeah, so explain the mechanics of how we got here. So 20 million barrels is how much oil and petroleum usually goes through the Strait of Hormuz every day. Now, shipping along that route has all but stopped. And so that gives you a sense. of how much oil the global economy is missing due to the U.S. Israel war with Iran. Are you able to put that number in like a historical context or like put it in perspective? Yeah. So this is the largest disruption to oil ever. It's far more than was blocked during the Iranian revolution. And that was huge at the time. As mentioned, this blockage is about 20% of global oil supply. Sounds not great. And you're saying gas prices are up 20% because of this.

Yeah, roughly 20% over the month. And on Wednesday, the average price of gasoline at the pump was $3.58 a gallon. Okay, so high energy prices, obviously slowed down the economy. But I don't know, is this going to be as bad as like the oil crisis of the 1970s? I mean, we use gas more efficiently now, right? Like our cars, our electricity generators, they don't need as much fuel as they used to. Yeah, that is totally true. Our economy makes more stuff and creates more value with a lot less. oil than we used to. But as mentioned, this is a huge disruption. And so if it goes on, I would expect prices to rise all over the economy. But don't we make so, so much oil in the U.S.? I mean, we're a net exporter? That is true, but it doesn't shield you from what's going on around the world. You know, this is a global commodity sold at world prices. And energy independence only gets you so far. Well, you know, I think I'm going to give up trying to sort my plastic recycling because it

seems kind of futile, given what we're facing here. Maybe I'll leave the problem solving to, I don't know, some intergovernmental agency, Sarah. Oh, perfectly setting me up for my indicator of the week, which is 400 million. That is how many millions of barrels of oil are being released from the global strategic oil reserves because of the U.S. Israel War in Iran. Okay, so this was big news this week? Yeah, yeah. This is the largest coordinated release of crude oil ever among the 32 countries that make up the International Energy Agency and its Oil Reserve. So this agency has been around since the 1970s after the oil crisis of 1973. And it is only the sixth time that these countries have voted to release oil.

Okay. And where is this oil reserve held? Okay. So the U.S. pulls from its own strategic petroleum reserve. So we, the U.S., keep oil underground in these like salt caverns in case we ever need a bunch of oil. other countries also have their own stockpiles. All right. And this has nothing to do with OPEC releasing oil. No. So, okay, here's how you can think about it. There are a bunch of OPEC oil producing countries, and these OPEC countries sort of determine how much oil everyone produces, meaning how much oil we pump, and then that influences oil prices

around the world, right? The International Energy Agency and its stockpile is more like a safety net for countries that are some of the biggest buyers of oil. So it's kind of like a rainy day fund of oil for the biggest oil consumers in the world. So that is the U.S., Japan, most of the countries in Europe, Canada, Korea. So while OPEC is more like oil underground ready to be pumped, the IEA oil reserve is oil that's already been like bottled up, so to speak. So it really is this safety net to protect the global economy if there is a shock to global oil supplies like we have right now because of the whole street of Hermuz situation. Right. And so this is meant to ease oil prices.

That's what it's meant to do. Has it worked? I mean, shortly after the announcement that there was going to be like some fresh batches of oil hitting the market, it did help a little bit. But then prices started to creep back up because like Darien says, this is the worst disruption to energy markets. Some experts have said, like, we can try all these tools and all the tricks we can think of, but there really is no substitute for letting oil come through that really important shipping

lane. So just doing some quick math, 400 million. barrels of oil, 20 million barrels per day that went through the straight of Hormuz. And so you've got, what, 20 days worth of supply. And who knows how long this conflict's going to go on for? Yeah, the world has a daily demand for 100 million barrels of crude oil and 20 million of that comes from this street. Like, how do you substitute that? I don't know. Okay, well, thanks so much, Sarah. And now on to the final indicator of the week, Waylon Wong. Okay, my indicator is 15%. That is the maximum service fee that Live Nation entertainment will be able to charge for tickets.

And this 15% cap comes out of a proposed settlement between Live Nation and the Justice Department. Live Nation, of course, owns Ticketmaster. And the DOJ, plus dozens of states, had sued Live Nation in 2024, alleging that the company had an illegal monopoly in the live entertainment industry. This is just like a company that inspires a lot of fear and loathing among its fans, right? I think a lot of people were rooting for the government to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Yeah, because besides Ticketmaster, Live Nation also owns and operates hundreds of venues. It manages artists. It's a concert promoter. It's like the whole enchilada.

So some kind of breakup was one possible outcome of this court case. The trial started just last week, and the two sides announced the proposed settlement on Monday. Live Nation says it will loosen up somewhat on the ticketing side. For example, the amphitheaters that it controls will let up to half of those tickets be sold on any marketplace. And then there's that 15% cap on ticket service fees that I mentioned earlier. One of our colleagues was actually just shopping for tickets for a guerrillas concert in Denver. And he said that the Ticketmaster service fee was 36%. Yeah, he showed me a screenshot.

And I was like, oh, my gosh. So if the judge approves the settlement, we shouldn't be seeing those kinds of percentages anymore. All right, but Live Nation isn't breaking up and it is not divesting Ticketmaster either, right? So I wonder if a lot of pounds are going to be disappointed. Like, they think the settlement doesn't go far enough. Yeah, I mean, certainly a bunch of states attorneys general think that way because New York's Attorney General was one of a couple dozen states that are not accepting the settlement. They say they're going to keep fighting Live Nation in court even without the DOJ.

So that's my indicator. And Sarah, it was super fun to have you on. Yeah, it was so nice to be here. See you at the gas line. Or the ticket line. Or the ticket line. Being 36% in fees. Or 15%, wayland.

15%. Things are looking up. I'll use my savings to buy more gas. This episode was produced by Angel Cerellis with engineering by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Corey Bridges. Julia Richie edited this episode and Kate Kincannon edits the show. The Indicator is a production of NPR. Catch this episode on YouTube.

YouTube.com slash planet money.