Crude futures retreated as US interest rate fears and a high-stakes Beijing summit overshadowed a massive 4.3 million-barrel domestic inventory draw and an IEA warning of an annual global supply deficit.
US commercial crude oil inventories fell sharply by 4.3 million barrels in the week ended 8 May to 452.9 million barrels, as the Iran war roiled oil markets and buyers increasingly turned to US barrels for supply.
Crude futures rallied 4% as the EIA extended its Hormuz closure timeline through late May, compounding a massive 14-million-barrel-per-day supply gap and accelerating the structural drain on global inventories.
Rising bunker costs linked to the disruption are placing increasing pressure on shipping lines. Maersk estimated the carrier is facing around $500 million per month in additional fuel-related expenses.
Japan’s petrochemical industry is accelerating a structural rationalisation of its ethylene backbone, as Mitsui Chemicals, Mitsubishi Chemical, and Asahi Kasei move to integrate their western Japan production network by fiscal 2030.