America’s oil stockpiles are shrinking rapidly, with US crude inventories posting consecutive weekly declines amid war with Iran.
According to Newsweek, as per recently released figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), total crude inventories fell by 17.8 million barrels for the week ending May 15.
The record drop follows several weeks of similarly steep declines that have brought total stocks (including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) to their lowest level in almost a year.
Analysts told the outlet that the declines are eroding a critical safety buffer designed to protect the US, and the prices consumers pay at the bump, during major supply shocks, and will offer the country less flexibility to respond if conditions deteriorate further.
Since the beginning of the war on February 28, the closure of the Hormuz Strait, through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil previously passed, has pushed global oil prices to multi-year highs and led to what the director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has called the “largest energy crisis in history.”
The US drivers are also facing significantly higher costs, with gas prices having risen around 50 percent to an average over $4.50 per gallon, and other downstream products like jet fuel facing comparable spikes. High gas prices have sparked frustration among voters.
It is worth noting that President Donald Trump is draining the nation’s pile of emergency oil at an even faster pace than Joe Biden ahead of this year’s midterms.
