American oil executives: global fuel crisis has already arrived
Executives warn commercial stocks have dropped for months and strategic reserves cannot cover fresh losses after Saudi pipeline damage and a mined tanker.
American oil executives say a global fuel crisis they warned about for months has arrived, citing steadily falling commercial fuel stocks and dwindling ability to tap strategic crude reserves.
Supply strains follow pipeline damage and a mined tanker in Hormuz
Executives report that commercial fuel inventories around the world have been declining for more than six months and that the capacity to use strategic crude reserves is close to exhausted.
"Now, according to the leaders of the oil companies, that crisis has already happened," the executives said.
Industry sources note that damage to pipelines in Saudi Arabia last week led to a loss of roughly 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, further tightening available supplies.
Yesterday it was reported that the supertanker El Gala struck a mine in the Strait of Hormuz. The explosion occurred while the ship was attempting to transit a restricted-movement zone within the strait.
At the same time, Russia attacked a petrol station and warehouses in Kyiv — the non-attack agreement on energy facilities did not last a day, raising additional concerns about fuel distribution in affected regions.
Photo: Steve Jurvetson from Los Altos, USA / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
