🚢 Wars in the Persian Gulf, Black and Arabian Seas are tying up way too many ships causing fuel shortages across the globe.

Global fuel oil supply is shrinking while demand for the fuel from the shipping industry remains robust, suggesting further supply pain down the road.

Exports of high-sulfur fuel oil from the Middle East are running at a rate that is at least 800,000 tons a month lower than it was before the war, the head of Asian operations at Vitol said at an industry event.

“Producers are paying higher freight rates and more risk premiums to shuttle cargoes out of Hormuz, recognising the importance of oil revenues to their national budgets,” Kieran Gallagher said, as quoted by Reuters. The risk premium for those exports remains considerable, fueling uncertainty about future supply from the region.

Fuel oil is standard for the shipping industry, but recently, some refiners in Asia have started switching from crude oil to high-sulfur fuel oil as feedstock, Gallagher said, amid the disruption of Saudi exports from the Red Sea. These refiners have snapped cargoes totalling some 1 million tons for November delivery, the executive said.

Further complicating the fuel oil situation, Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries have further crimped supply. Vitol’s Gallagher estimated that loss at some 1 million tons per month.

“The key lies in replacing fuel oil with crude as a refinery feedstock,” he said. However, this remains a challenge due to the above-mentioned shipping risks in the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, the premium for the fuel oil used in commercial shipping on the spot market has reached almost $50 per ton, up from $5.10 per ton in late February, Reuters reported, citing LSEG data.

Over the past couple of days, a fuel shortage developed in the resort city of Bali, Indonesia, due to an oil tanker arriving late in port.

Authorities in Switzerland are releasing jet fuel from their emergency stocks to prevent a fuel shortage caused by drought in the Rhine river valley and train delays in Germany.

The fuel shortage is much worse felt across Subsaharan Africa. In Malawi, the government is short on foreign currency and the rise in oil prices make it difficult to find a cheap and consistent supply of fuel.

South Africa who is undergoing a process of deindustrialization became this year particularly exposed to energy shocks like the one caused by the wars in the Middle East. The country became a net importer of fuel when just as late as 7 years ago it was not. South Africa currently produces about 39% of its fuel demand domestically, including Sasol, which is a significant decrease from 78% in 2019. The country imports approximately 61% of its refined fuel products. South Africa has just 6.9 million barrels left of oil in its petroleum reserve meaning that if oil tankers stop coming, the country will be out of fuel.

In Mozambique, the fuel crisis is preventing many fishermen from going out to sea due to a lack of fuel.

In Kenya, rising fuel prices added a new grievance to the long list of other grievances the people hold against the Kenyan government causing widespread riots earlier this year.

Libya, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia continue to be gripped by localised fuel shortages related to the ongoing conflicts in their respective countries and made worse by the rising oil prices, globally.

@CIG_telegram

🇵🇸 🇮🇱 🇪🇺 Weekly Meander: Netanyahu Government Campaigns on Expelling Palestinians To Europe

—Members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition are releasing campaign ads promising to expel nearly 2 million Palestinians to Europe. The plan, authored by Defense Minister Israel Katz and recently promoted by Bezalel Smoterich, would resettle 20-30,000 Palestinians in every European nation.

—The French government’s political persecution of nationalist leaders Alain Soral, Yvan Benedetti, and Herve Ryssen, which is helping pave the way for the political consolidation of the Zionist controlled phony right-wing.

—Why France, Spain, Germany and Italy are exploding with rioting and discontent.

—An Israeli think-tank’s new policy paper promising eternal war and the destruction of all neighboring Arab states.

https://littoria.substack.com/p/weekly-meander-netanyahus-government

📢 🇨🇿 🇪🇸 Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš:

We see what's happening in Spain. Some politicians are willing to replace their own population with migrants just to stay in office and remain in government.

I'm convinced that for some of these countries, it's already too late.

Maybe one day we will have to defend our borders to prevent migrants from Western countries from coming here, if this continues. And of course, we are preparing for that.

📎 Clash Report

🇫🇷⚡️- Today's protests in France were supposed to be the apotheosis of the riots that have been rocking the country for a few weeks. The 17th October was heralded online as the revival of the Yellow Vests and the transition of the riots from localized violent outbursts to a nationwide movement about grievances. For now, it is a complete failure, with less than 180k protesters expected across the nation. The left's documented interference has prevented the reemergence of a massive apolitical anti-Macron movement.

🇫🇷⚡️- According to a journalist from LCP, there's only 11k protesters outside of Paris as of 11AM local time.

Organizers and left-wing groups claim protests are all over France, citing the fact that most cities have declared gatherings to be held today. In reality, some of those gatherings barely exceed 30 members in certain locations.

🇫🇷⚡️- Regular protests are dying down as violent crowds start forming in several places across France. It is likely violences pick up as the afternoon goes on.

🇫🇷 “We’re storming the Bastille!”: Protesters break into Marseille City Hall and go on a rampage

Several dozen demonstrators forced open the entrance door to City Hall, stormed inside, spray-painted the walls and smashed a bust of Marianne standing near the entrance — one of France’s national symbols.

Tensions remain high in Paris as well. In videos from the protests, demonstrators can be heard threatening President Macron: “We beheaded Louis XVI! Macron, we can do it again!”

📎 NEXTA

—❗️🇾🇪/🇸🇦 BREAKING: Ansarallah have entered western Taizz city, liberating the strategic areas of Mudarat and Murabah, and slowly approaching the ‘Old Airport’ neighbourhood and Taizz University

Very heavy clashes are taking place.

@Middle_East_Spectator