Doomsday for California as last barrel of oil from the Middle East arrives in Long Beach
California is now going to face its first real test of the energy crisis stemming from America’s conflict with Iran and exacerbated by the state’s green-energy policies.
The last oil tanker to pass through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began arrived at the Port of Long Beach with two million barrels of oil for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Prior to this, the Golden State and other states were able to withstand eye-popping pressures on the energy supply as slow-moving ships that left the Middle East right before the war made their journeys as usual.
Even then, Californians still felt some pressure, including record-high fuel prices. Those journeys have come to an end.
Hong Kong’s ship New Corolla, which loaded up on oil in February, will soon depart, and the state will have to figure out how to make up for 200,000 barrels of oil a day it got from the Middle East.
California is particularly vulnerable in this situation, as its status as an isolated energy island without gas pipelines has led it to increasingly rely on imports.
A few weeks ago, a number of Democratic and Republican state lawmakers sounded the alarm on the impending emergency — and blasted California’s energy authorities for not having a plan.
“We are demanding an emergency plan to deal with this fuel crisis,” Assemblymember David Alvarez (D) said at a press conference.
“Our request — demand, I would say at this point — highlights past due reports, some well over a year, that are due and required to be presented to the legislature.”
They noted how countries such as the Philippines or South Korea, where shortages have already hit, have taken unprecedented action such as calling on citizens to cut back on gas or declaring a national gas emergency to secure imports in other ways.
The California Energy Commission told the LA Times it is “working closely with refiners” and is “aware they are identifying and using alternate routes and sources of crude.”
The commission added it was confident in the state’s oil supply outlook for the next six weeks.
“We expect to see increased imports in June as the market adapts to the new supply reality resulting from the conflict in Iran,” a spokesman said.
Jamie Lewis, an oil analyst with Wood Mackenzie, said prices will increase sharply first before any shortages happen.
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