Last planned Middle East oil tanker reaches California amid Hormuz disruption
A tanker carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil from Iraq has arrived in Long Beach, California, in what has been described as the last planned shipment from the Middle East to pass through the Strait of Hormuz before the conflict disrupted flows.
The vessel, the New Corolla, left the Middle East for California before the war broke out.
The shipment reached the state this week, according to the supplied report.
California Energy Commission vice-chair Siva Gunda told legislators that the state can meet fuel demand for the next six weeks with current supply.
Officials say California imports about a third of its oil from the Gulf and will now need to find replacement sources.
The arrival matters because California already has the highest gas prices in the US, with the average price in the state reported at $6.16 a gallon.
The broader disruption has also pushed up prices nationally, with the average at $4.54.
The supplied report says oil that was already in transit when the conflict began has continued to reach consumers, helping to buffer the immediate impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The New Corolla is described as the last shipment in that flow.
