Asia’s Deepening Oil Crunch Triggers Fuel Hoarding, Price Hikes

A deepening energy crunch across Asia is impacting all corners of the oil market, with suppliers of everything from shipping fuel to cooking gas beginning to cut back on sales in order to manage shrinking stockpiles.

A widening conflict in the Persian Gulf, which began at the weekend after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, has upended the energy trade by all but halting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects some of the world’s most important energy producers to their consuming markets.