Global oil inventories are shrinking rapidly due to supply disruptions from the Persian Gulf caused by restrictions on tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing regional conflict. These developments are increasing the risk of fuel shortages and market price instability, Bloomberg reports.<\/p>\n
According to estimates, between March 1 and April 25 global oil inventories declined by approximately 4.8 million barrels per day, marking the fastest rate of depletion ever recorded by the International Energy Agency. Around 60% of the reduction came from crude oil stocks, while the remaining 40% involved refined petroleum products.<\/p>\n
Experts warn that inventories are quickly approaching the \u201coperational minimum,\u201d posing a threat to market stability. JPMorgan forecasts that OECD countries could soon face \u201coperational stress,\u201d with the global oil system potentially reaching a critical state by September.<\/p>\n
Import-dependent Asian countries are under the greatest pressure, with Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan, and the Philippines considered the most vulnerable. In these nations, inventory levels could reach critical thresholds within a month. Meanwhile, major economies such as China remain in a relatively more stable position.<\/p>\n
The United States is also experiencing shortages in crude oil and petroleum product inventories, which remain below historical averages. Distillate stocks, in particular, have fallen to their lowest level since 2005.<\/p>\n
To support the market, governments have already used around 400 million barrels from strategic reserves. However, further depletion of these reserves could weaken the global oil system\u2019s safety buffer even more, exposing it to additional shocks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":151580,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-151579","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/151579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=151579"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=151579"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=151579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}