Chevron CEO warns oil buffers that cushioned the Iran war shock have been ‘drained’—and diesel relief may not come until 2027
Source: Fortune ·
Mike Wirth says commercial stockpiles, emergency reserves, and once-sanctioned barrels have all been tapped, leaving the global energy system more exposed just weeks before the midterms.
From the source
The Iran war has pushed fuel prices to record highs, and the head of America’s second-largest oil company says the world has run out of easy ways to absorb the shock. “Those are all buffers in the system that have bought us time, but they’ve been drained,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe on Oct. 7. “And so we’re at much lower levels of inventory right now, and it makes the system more vulnerable to disruption.” Wirth said the world entered 2026 well supplied. “We came into this year with high inventories,” he said, pointing to commercial stocks held by companies and strategic reserves held by governments worldwide. Since the war began in late February, those cushions have been steadily depleted: Companies have drawn down commercial inventories, governments have released emergency stocks, and sanctioned barrels have been allowed to reach buyers. He called it “a very serious situation.” Wirth was blunt that stockpile releases are only a stopgap. They “buy time,” he…