Donald Trump has told oil company executives the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could “continue for months” raising fears global stockpiles could dip below critical levels
The oil market is just four weeks away from a “tipping point” which could drive prices significantly higher, it has been warned.
Donald Trump has told oil company executives the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could “continue for months” raising fears global stockpiles could dip below critical levels.
Analysts fear stocks of crude, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel could hit critically low levels by the end of the month at which point prices will soar.
Frederic Lasserre, head of research at Gunvor, one of the world’s oil traders, told the Financial Times: “We do not have months. It goes beyond gasoline at the pumps to industry shutting down and you enter recession.
“The tipping point is clearly June. This is the point at which something has to give.”
Amrita Sen, founder of the Energy Aspects consultancy, told the FT if the war continued to the end of June all stocks would be exhausted.
“Essentially you can pick a number when it comes to the oil price. We will just not have any buffers.
The price of a barrel of oil hit $126 this week but it has been warned it could rise to $150-$200 if the conflict continues.
The dire warnings come as Israeli continued airstrikes on southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire between them and Hezbollah.
Officials said at least seven people were killed and others wounded yesterday. Israel’s military issued a new warning for residents of nine southern villages to evacuate.
Israel and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group have kept up their attacks despite a ceasefire in place since April 17.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported an airstrike on a car in the village of Kfar Dajal killed two people, while another hit a home in the village of Lwaizeh, killing three. Two others were killed in a strike on the village of Shoukin, it said.
Israel’s military Arabic-language spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, posted on X that the Israeli air force carried out about 50 airstrikes over the past 24 hours targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and members.
Hezbollah said that it attacked with a drone Israeli troops who gathered on Saturday inside a house in the coastal village of Bayed.
Over the past weeks, the Israeli army has been levelling neighbourhoods in towns and villages near the Lebanese-Israeli border. The military says it destroys buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed group.
The Israeli military released a new video that it said shows Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon being blown up. The video, released Friday, shows soldiers holding an Israeli flag and walking among the destruction of a soccer stadium in the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil. The military said on its website that the air force “destroyed the town’s stadium after it was discovered to be booby-trapped”.
Lebanon and Israel have held their first direct talks in more than three decades. The two countries have formally been in a state of war since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. A 10-day ceasefire declared in Washington went into effect on April 17. The ceasefire was later extended by three weeks.
