China will not jeopardise its strategic partnership with Iran to help the US: analyst
Global oil supply to plunge below demand this year on war, IEA says
Global oil supply will not meet total demand this year as the US-Israel war on Iran wreaks havoc on Middle East oil production, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said in its monthly oil market report, according to Reuters.
“With Hormuz tanker traffic still restricted, cumulative supply losses from Gulf producers already exceed 1 billion barrels with more than 14 million (barrels per day) of oil now shut in, an unprecedented supply shock,” the agency has said.
Its base-case forecast is for a gradual resumption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz from the third quarter onwards, it has said.
Supply will fall by around 3.9 million bpd across 2026 due to the war, the agency has said, slashed from its previous forecast of a 1.5 million bpd drop.
Meanwhile, the IEA now sees demand falling by 420,000 bpd this year, compared to a previous forecast of an 80,000 bpd drop. Consumption is also under pressure from the war as price spikes lead to demand destruction and slower economic growth, it has added.
Italy says sending minesweepers closer to Gulf region
Italy has said it was sending two warships closer to the Gulf but would only deploy them as part of an international mission in case of a lasting truce in the region, according to AFP.
Speaking to parliament, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has also said that a possible mission to the Strait of Hormuz could only happen with prior approval from lawmakers.
Crosetto has said that the pre-condition for any deployment would be not the ceasefire currently in place “but a real, credible and stable truce or, even better, a definitive peace”.
He said it would take weeks for the minesweepers to reach the region and Italy was therefore “pre-positioning” them, initially to the eastern Mediterranean and then the Red Sea.
“Solely as a precaution… we are arranging for two minehunter units to be positioned relatively closer to the Strait,” Crosetto said.
UK to send drones, jets and warship to join defensive mission securing Strait of Hormuz
The United Kingdom says it will contribute autonomous mine-hunting equipment, Typhoon fighter jets and the warship HMS Dragon to a multinational defensive mission aimed at securing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.
Defence minister John Healey has announced the commitment during a virtual summit with more than 40 of his counterparts from other nations involved in the mission, which he says will become operational when conditions allow.
“With our allies, this multinational mission will be defensive, independent, and credible,” he has said in a statement.
- China will not jeopardise its strategic partnership with Iran to help the US: analyst
- UAE adds 21 Lebanese people, entities to ‘terror’ list
- Hezbollah says Israeli soldiers targeted in southern Lebanon
- Global oil supply to plunge below demand this year on war, IEA says
- Italy says sending minesweepers closer to Gulf region
- UK to send drones, jets and warship to join defensive mission securing Strait of Hormuz
