Overview
- The Hong Kong‑flagged New Corolla is offloading about 2 million barrels at the Port of Long Beach in what analysts describe as the last California‑bound cargo to clear the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.
- California needs to replace roughly 200,000 barrels of crude per day that had been coming from the Persian Gulf, and the state energy commission says it is working with refiners and expects inventories to cover near‑term demand.
- Analysts expect gasoline prices to jump before any physical shortages, as countries including China, South Korea, Thailand and Pakistan have curbed fuel exports to protect their own supplies.
- Refiners are seeking replacement barrels from Latin America and Canada, though higher shipping costs and mismatches with the medium and heavy oil many California plants are tuned to process could slow the shift.
- Shrinking in‑state refining capacity and recent outages have pushed gasoline imports to about 20% of supply, and lawmakers are pressing for an emergency plan to navigate the next phase of the crunch.