China’s Teapot Refiners Slash Output as Hormuz Crisis Crushes Margins

Independent “teapot” refiners in China — the smaller, privately owned facilities concentrated in Shandong province that account for roughly a quarter of the country’s refining capacity — are slashing production rates as the ongoing paralysis in the Strait of Hormuz drives crude prices higher and crushes refining margins. According to industry sources cited by Reuters […]

Continue Reading

Chevron CEO Says Oil Storage Buffers Being Drawn Down

In a candid interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth delivered a sobering assessment of the global oil market: the industry’s traditional “shock absorbers” — commercial inventories in tanks, oil on tankers (including shadow fleet vessels), and strategic petroleum reserves — have been significantly drawn down in recent months […]

Continue Reading

What Does Mozambique and California Have in Common? Rising Diesel Prices on the Horizon as Both Depend on Imports Tied to the Strait of Hormuz

In a striking parallel amid the ongoing U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, two distant regions—sub-Saharan Africa’s Mozambique and the U.S. West Coast’s California—are facing acute fuel supply pressures. Both heavily rely on petroleum products whose supply chains trace back to the Strait of Hormuz, the critical chokepoint through which roughly 20-25% of global seaborne oil and […]

Continue Reading

Goldman Says Global Oil Stocks Approaching Eight-Year Low, Depletion Speed a Concern

Global oil inventories are rapidly approaching their lowest level in nearly eight years, according to a new analysis from Goldman Sachs. The investment bank warned that the pace of depletion has become a major concern amid ongoing supply disruptions, particularly restrictions on flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Goldman estimates that total global oil stocks […]

Continue Reading

Iran War Has Brought Energy Crisis to the Global Stage

The 2026 Iran war has triggered what the International Energy Agency (IEA) calls the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.” Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz—through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil and significant LNG volumes flow—has upended global energy supplies. Over 50 countries have implemented emergency […]

Continue Reading