Executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips, three of the world’s largest oil companies, have added their voices over the past few days to warnings that the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on global energy supplies and prices is about to hit a turning point.
“A lot of the inventory and spare capacity has been depleted already,” said Chevron CFO Eimear Bonner in a May 1 interview with Bloomberg. “There’s very little of the buffer left.”
Bonner and the other executives pointed to the fact that while oil prices have risen over the past two months, a combination of commercial stockpiles, strategic reserves, and supplies that were already in transit before the Strait was closed have staved off a more dramatic shock.
