A global fuel crisis has already become a reality, amid the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a decline in fuel supplies worldwide, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

“American oil executives warned for months that the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz was bound to cause a fuel crisis. Now, they say it is here,” WSJ notes.

According to the WSJ, commercial fuel stocks around the world have been depleting for more than six months, and strategic crude reserves can’t be tapped much further. Attacks last week shut down a crucial crude pipeline in Saudi Arabia that bypassed the Strait, stranding at least 2.5 million barrels a day from an already tight global oil market, analysts estimate.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said that the mechanisms that previously mitigated the effects of supply disruptions have almost been exhausted. According to him, a rapid decline in oil prices now seems unlikely.

It is stressed that against this background, the price of a gallon of diesel fuel in the US has reached a record high of $6.23—about $1.64 per liter, and gasoline - $4.32—about $1.14 per liter). President Donald Trump’s administration, however, considers these disruptions temporary.