Biden's depletion of emergency oil stocks comes back into focus amid Israel-Hamas war, price surge
Fox News
President Biden's decision to reduce emergency U.S. oil stocks by more than 40% is receiving renewed attention amid the latest Middle East conflict that sent oil prices higher.
"If the conflict envelopes Iran... up to 3% of global oil supply is at risk. And if a wider conflict eventuates that ends up impacting transit through the Strait of Hormuz, around 20% of global oil supply could be held hostage," energy analyst Saul Kavonic said in an interview with Reuters. Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
"Timing is everything and the attacks almost certainly postpone any Saudi-Israeli rapprochement, along with any high probability expectation of Saudi Arabia reducing or eliminating its extra 1 million [barrel per day] cut if prices resume their recent fall," analysts with Citibank added in a note.