American and global supplies of crude oil have dropped to operational stress levels.
Inventories of West Texas Intermediate crude held in Cushing, Okla., the largest oil storage facility in the United States, have fallen to 20 million barrels, the lowest point in a decade.
That is considered the operational stress level, after which it becomes difficult to maintain pressure in the pipelines and difficult to meet demand.
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We attribute the drop in the Cushing inventory to foreign demand for U.S. oil that grew out of the closing of the Strait of Hormuz.
And the decline has continued even as crude oil prices have declined off the highs that were seen shortly after the war broke out and have now fallen below $80 a barrel.
