Israel/Iran conflict
'You're hitting tank bottom': US oil execs warn of global fuel price surge within weeks
Kiwis "should still be concerned" about fuel prices, Westpac's chief economist told Stuff this week. ROBERT KITCHIN / THE POST
The Trump administration has reportedly been warned by the US oil industry that the impasse with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz is draining inventories to the point where global energy prices could surge by the end of the month.
"We're at dangerously low levels already," one industry executive, speaking about fuel storage tanks around the world, told Politico. "We have shared those concerns at the highest levels of government about what's coming in mid-to-late June ... I hope they are paying attention to inventories right now. You're hitting tank bottom."
Exxon Mobil's senior vice president Neil Chapman told an investor conference last week that the world was "approaching unheard of inventory levels" and that a continued decline would mean, within weeks, "you'll see prices shoot up".
In New Zealand, despite a decline in fuel prices from their peak in mid-April, consumers "should still be concerned," Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold told Stuff this week.
"The reason that they have been able to feel a bit more comfortable is that we've been using buffers in the system. Anyone would realise that we can't just run down the buffers all the time because we will eventually run out.
"We're very much into unchartered territory over the next two months if something doesn't change."
A White House spokesperson told Politico the US had anticipated disruptions to energy flows and had "implemented an aggressive plan to mitigate any impacts", but the rise in fuel prices in the US - more than 50% than before the war - has seen US President Donald Trump take a hit to his political standing.
"People are tired of this," Republican Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie said of the war after voting to curb Trump's powers. "They're tired of US$5 gallon gas and US$6 gallon diesel."
Trump has broadly rejected the criticism, saying prices will drop once the conflict ends. "Our gasoline prices are lower than they were with Biden without that [the Iran war]," he said during a round of questions in the Oval Office in Thursday (local time).
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"We're at dangerously low levels already," one industry executive, speaking about fuel storage tanks around the world, told Politico. "We have shared those concerns at the highest levels of government about what's coming in mid-to-late June ... I hope they are paying attention to inventories right now. You're hitting tank bottom."
Exxon Mobil's senior vice president Neil Chapman told an investor conference last week that the world was "approaching unheard of inventory levels" and that a continued decline would mean, within weeks, "you'll see prices shoot up".
In New Zealand, despite a decline in fuel prices from their peak in mid-April, consumers "should still be concerned," Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold told Stuff this week.
"The reason that they have been able to feel a bit more comfortable is that we've been using buffers in the system. Anyone would realise that we can't just run down the buffers all the time because we will eventually run out.
"We're very much into unchartered territory over the next two months if something doesn't change."
A White House spokesperson told Politico the US had anticipated disruptions to energy flows and had "implemented an aggressive plan to mitigate any impacts", but the rise in fuel prices in the US - more than 50% than before the war - has seen US President Donald Trump take a hit to his political standing.
"People are tired of this," Republican Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie said of the war after voting to curb Trump's powers. "They're tired of US$5 gallon gas and US$6 gallon diesel."
Trump has broadly rejected the criticism, saying prices will drop once the conflict ends. "Our gasoline prices are lower than they were with Biden without that [the Iran war]," he said during a round of questions in the Oval Office in Thursday (local time).
Read more here