Strait of Hormuz News Updates

Prices of fuels like diesel and jet fuel are surging as refineries in the region reduce production or shut completely, while fuel makers elsewhere balk at high crude prices.

“The United States is the largest oil producer in the world, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump posted on social media.

Iran has escalated its attacks aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the U.S. and Israel to end the war, targeting oil fields and refineries in a handful of Gulf Arab nations.

The Trump administration plans to release 172 million barrels from the U.S. emergency oil reserve as part of the coordinated effort by nations around the world to ease surging crude and fuel prices.

President Trump is preparing to invoke Cold War-era powers to pave the way for renewed oil production off the Southern California coast, a long-shot bid to help ease the global crude crunch.

The Paris-based organization said it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from its members’ emergency reserves in an effort to calm surging oil prices.

Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations.

President Donald Trump’s efforts to stabilize prices at the pump underscore the unique role oil and gasoline play in the economy — and American voters’ perceptions of it. 

The U.S. raised its forecast for domestic oil production next year after the recent surge in prices due to supply disruptions from key Middle East countries.

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lowered their collective output by as much as 6.7 million barrels a day, Bloomberg reports. That amounts to about 6% of global supply.