California's jet fuel supply drops to three-year low as Middle East turmoil squeezes global oil market

Source: The Guardian

Sat 25 Apr 2026 11.00 EDT
Last modified on Sat 25 Apr 2026 11.01 EDT


California’s jet fuel supply has dropped to a level not seen since 2023, as turmoil in the Middle East continues to squeeze the global oil market.

As of 17 April, the state’s jet fuel stock was just over 2.6m barrels, in comparison to 3.2m barrels two years prior, according to the California energy commission (CEC), which publishes a refinery stocks data dashboard.

California received 61.1% of its oil supply from foreign sources in 2025, according to the CEC – a majority of whom are Asian refiners. The foreign dependence is a shift from the early 1990s, when nearly half of its oil supply came from state-owned refineries, a change that some energy researchers attribute to air quality regulations.

That supply has been disrupted, however, by the US and Israel’s war with Iran. Asia imported more than 14m barrels a day of crude Middle Eastern oil in 2025. Traffic in the strait of Hormuz, a major waterway for oil vessels, has plunged. Since the war’s outbreak, jet fuel prices have climbed.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/25/california-juet-fuel-supply