Suez Canal Fiasco Should Remind US Leaders of Importance of Bolstering American Energy Capabilities
By Guy F. Caruso
The cargo ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal late last month made headlines across the globe as more than 400 vessels were delayed by the blockage. While the canal was not blocked for as long as many experts anticipated, the total cost of backlogged, lost or damaged goods is expected to exceed $10 billion.
Included in the back-up were ten crude oil tankers carrying about 13 million barrels of oil. Crude prices jumped briefly in the immediate wake of the event, rising about six percent the day after the ship was stranded, but the impact was largely muted. In total, energy prices moved only moderately.
That is a pretty remarkable outcome. Only a few years ago, an unexpected closure on the Suez Canal—which transports ten percent of the world’s crude oil and eight percent of its natural gas—likely would have thrown markets into a frenzy. Instead, it wasn’t much more than a blip on the radar.
https://co2coalition.org/2021/04/12/suez-canal-fiasco-should-remind-us-leaders-of-importance-of-bolstering-american-energy-capabilities/
