Italy to release 9,000,000 barrels of oil from its emergency reserves as prices surge
Italy just opened the floodgates! 9,000,000 barrels are being released as the energy war hits Europe's doorstep. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked and prices touching $120, this is a desperate race against a total economic meltdown. The next few weeks will be historic.
Since the Feb 28 strikes on Iran, petrol prices have jumped in 85 countries.
In the U.S., a gallon went from $2.94 to $3.58 in weeks. Some states already above $4, California even crossed $5.
But the wild one is Cambodia. Petrol there shot up almost 68%. Vietnam, Nigeria, Laos, Canada all seeing sharp jumps too.
The reason? Strait of Hormuz!
A massive share of the world’s oil passes through that tiny strip of water, and the war has basically choked it.
That is why Asia is sweating. Japan gets about 95% of its oil from the Gulf, South Korea around 70%.
Japan is preparing emergency reserve releases. South Korea just capped fuel prices for the first time in 30 years.
That is how a war thousands of miles away suddenly turns into a global fuel shock.
🌍 TOP COUNTRIES WITH LARGEST EMERGENCY OIL RESERVES (SPR):
1️⃣ 🇺🇸 USA — ~415M barrels | ~85 days
2️⃣ 🇨🇳 China — ~450M | ~120 days
3️⃣ 🇯🇵 Japan — ~320M | ~220 days
4️⃣ 🇩🇪 Germany — ~180M | ~95 days
5️⃣ 🇫🇷 France — ~120M | ~95 days
6️⃣ 🇰🇷 South Korea — ~100M | ~180 days
7️⃣ 🇮🇹 Italy — ~75M | ~90 days
8️⃣ 🇪🇸 Spain — ~65M | ~90 days
9️⃣ 🇮🇳 India — ~55M | ~65 days
🔟 🇳🇱 Netherlands — ~45M | ~90 days
11 🇧🇪 Belgium — ~40M | ~90 days
12 🇬🇧 UK — ~30M | ~90 days
13 🇦🇹 Austria — ~25M | ~90 days
14 🇸🇪 Sweden — ~25M | ~90 days
15 🇨🇭 Switzerland — ~25M | ~120 days
16 🇦🇺 Australia — ~25M | ~70 days
17 🇨🇿 Czechia — ~20M | ~100 days
18 🇫🇮 Finland — ~20M | ~120 days
19 🇹🇼 Taiwan — ~15M | ~90 days
20 🇸🇬 Singapore — ~15M | ~90 days
Key insights:
-United States still has the largest government strategic reserve, though it has been reduced after multiple emergency releases.-Japan and South Korea have the largest reserves relative to consumption, giving them very high days-of-supply coverage.-China has rapidly expanded storage and may eventually surpass the U.S. in total crude storage capacity.-IEA member countries are required to maintain at least 90 days of oil imports for emergency situations. [Source - Wealth in Numbers]
