the east asian energy crisis is getting worse by the day
let's sum up what's happened so far:
the Philippines became the first country to declare a national energy emergency. government offices moved to a 4 day work week, and President Marcos says grounding planes is a "distinct possibility." their fuel supply dropped from 57 days to 45 days in less than a month.
South Korea is telling citizens to take shorter showers and charge phones during the day. they're considering banning naphtha exports, which means petrochemical production starts seizing up.
Japan released 80 MILLION barrels from strategic reserves, the largest drawdown since they created the system in 1978. covers about 45 days.
95% of their crude comes from the Middle East. their refineries are canceling fuel exports and cutting production to prioritize domestic supply. (talked about this in my newsletter)
Vietnam has 20 days of reserves. they just panic-bought 4 million barrels from non-Middle East sources, which covers six more days.
India is running out of cooking gas. restaurants are shutting down, lines wrapping around LPG distributors in multiple cities. 90% of their LPG imports go through Hormuz.
New Zealand has less than 40 days of combined fuel left, gas stations are going dry in parts of the country, and the government is dusting off 1979 era rationing laws.
China and Thailand have both banned or restricted fuel exports to hoard domestic supply. Singapore and Indonesian petrochemical companies are declaring force majeure.
the IEA released a record 400 million barrels from strategic reserves and then said it won't be enough. Brent peaked at $126, still sitting above $90 today.
the crisis deepens in East Asia.
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