Red Sea risk to oil ‘very real,’ prices could change rapidly if supply disrupted, Chevron CEO says
The crisis in the Red Sea poses serious risks to oil flows and prices could change quickly if tensions lead to a major supply disruption in the Middle East, Chevron CEO Michael Wirth told CNBC on Tuesday.
“It’s a very serious situation and seems to be getting worse,” Wirth said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The Chevron CEO said he was surprised that U.S. crude oil was trading below $73 a barrel because the “risks are very real.”
“So much of the world’s oil flows through that region that were it to be cut off, I think you could see things change very rapidly,” Wirth said.
Chevron has continued transporting crude through the region as the company works closely with the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Wirth said. The CEO cautioned that situation is evolving.
“We really have to watch very carefully,” Wirth told CNBC.
Shell suspends Red Sea shipments
The British oil major Shell has suspended shipments through the Red Sea, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday. Shell declined to comment in response to a request from CNBC.
Shell’s decision to halt shipments through the crucial trade chokepoint comes about a month after BP paused transits through the Red Sea. Several major tanker companies, which transport petroleum products such as gasoline as well as crude oil, halted traffic toward the Red Sea on Friday.
Houthi militants, who are based in Yemen and allied with Iran, have repeatedly attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s war in Gaza. The U.S. and Britain have launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen to secure shipping through the waterway.
The Houthis have continued to launch attacks despite the U.S.-led strikes. The militants on Tuesday launched an antiship ballistic missile that struck a Maltese-flagged bulk carrier in the Red Sea, according to U.S. Central Command. No injuries were reported and the vessel continued to transit the waterway, according to CENTCOM.
Sullivan: Houthis are hijacking the world
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said nations with influence in Iran need to take a stronger stand to demonstrate the “entire world rejects wholesale the idea that a group like the Houthis can basically hijack the world as they are doing.”
The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution last week condemning the Houthi attacks “in the strongest possible terms.” Permanent council members China and Russia, which wield veto power, abstained from the vote on the resolution.
“We anticipated that the Houthis would continue to try to hold this critical artery at risk, and we continue to reserve the right to take further action, but this needs to be an all hands on deck effort,” Sullivan said during an interview in Davos on Tuesday.
Oil market and geopolitical analysts say that the biggest risk to energy supplies would come if Middle East tensions erupt into a regional conflict that disrupts crude oil flows out of the Strait of Hormuz.
Some 7 million barrels of crude oil and products transit the Red Sea daily, compared to 18 million barrels that transit the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from the trade analytics firm Kpler.
Goldman Sachs has warned that a prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could double oil prices, though the investment bank views that scenario as unlikely.
Wirth said Chevron had two ships attacked by the Iranian Navy last year, one of which was hijacked by commandos and taken to an Iranian port and the other took fire for four hours until the U.S. Navy intervened.
Iran seized an oil tanker last week in the Gulf of Oman. The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St. Nikolas was previously involved in a dispute between the U.S. and Iran over sanctioned crude.
Tesla has wiped off the 26,000 miles on the odometer of a Cybertruck in service, scratched the vehicle, and then returned it to the owner like nothing happened.
A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Oregon was quite surprised when he went to pick up his Cybertruck, which was in service to install a new lightbar, fix some panel gaps, and figure out an ABS alert that wouldn’t go away.
According to a thread on the Cybertruck Owners Club, Tesla had wiped the odometer clean on the Foundation Series ‘Cyberbeast’, which had over 26,000 miles on it.
The owner shared a video of the Cybertruck’s odometer going from 0 to 1 mile for the second time:
The odometer on the vehicle was wiped and both the app and service many also showed the same mileage.
The owner shared a screenshot of the app after 15 miles:
He went to the online forum for advice:
Anyone else have their odometer Thanos-snapped after a controller swap? Can Tesla unsnap it or am I forever “True Mileage Unknown”?
Interestingly, Tesla is currently being sued for allegedly messing with the odometers of its vehicles. However, the lawsuit is for accelerating the mileage, not reducing it, like in this case.
It was not the only surprise from this service visit for this Cybertruck owner.
The owner was not satisfied with the lightbar installation, which he claims has a half-inch gap on the passenger side while it is flush on the driver side. He wrote:
It’s basically smiling sideways at everyone.
It’s also unclear why Tesla was messing with the vehicle’s tailgate, but it ended up having a bolt moving around it, causing scratches and Tesla left a bolt unbolted:
At this point, the truck was returned with more problems than it had when it entered service.
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Nissan is on the brink of collapsing. After the Honda deal fell through, it looks like another Japanese automaker is tossing it a lifeline. As Nissan struggles to stay afloat, Toyota is emerging as a potential “backer” in a new tie-up.
Are Toyota and Nissan partnering?
“If we don’t take action now, the situation will only get worse,” Nissan’s President, Ivan Espinosa, said during a press conference on May 13.
Facing falling sales, ballooning debt, and slumping profits, Nissan introduced a new recovery plan last week, “Re:Nissan.” The struggling automaker aims to cut costs by 250 billion yen to return to profitability by FY 2026.
As part of its efforts to turn the business around, Nissan will cut 20,000 jobs by FY2027. It’s also abandoning plans to build a new EV battery facility in Japan. Seven other plants will be closed, including one in Thailand and two in Japan.
After its planned EV merger with Honda fell through in February, rumours surfaced that Nissan was scrambling to find another partner.
According to a new report from Japan’s MainiChi, a Toyota executive recently reached out to Nissan about a potential partnership. The tie-up could involve Toyota acting as Nissan’s “backer” to support it while it restructures.
Nissan and Toyota both unveiled a wave of new electric vehicles set to roll out over the next few years. The upgraded Nissan LEAF EV will arrive in the US and Canada later this year with more range, an NACS port, and a new crossover style. It will be one of ten new Nissan or Infiniti models to arrive by 2027.
In Europe, Nissan will launch the next-gen LEAF later this year, followed by the new Micra EV and Qashqai electric crossover. In 2026, the new Nissan Juke EV will join the lineup.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s upgraded bZ electric SUV (formerly the “bZ4X”) will arrive at US dealerships in the second half of 2025.
In 2026, the smaller C-HR electric SUV and rugged bZ Woodland EV will follow. By the end of the year, Europe will see three new Toyota electric SUVs: the C-HR+, Urban Cruiser, and upgraded bZ4X.
Electrek’s Take
Toyota already has a stake in several Japanese automakers, including Subaru (20%), Mazda (5.1%), Suzuki (4.6%), and Isuzu (5.9%), so backing Nissan wouldn’t come as a shock.
Espinosa said Nissan was open to new partnerships. Nissan’s chief said the company will continue collaborating with others, including Mitsubishi, which will use the upcoming LEAF as the basis for its new EV for North America.
Japanese carmakers have been notoriously slow in shifting to all-electric vehicles, which is now costing them in key overseas markets like Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and others.
Chinese EV leaders, like BYD, are quickly expanding overseas to drive growth this year. Next year, it will launch its first kei car (see the first spy shots), or mini EV, which is already being called “a huge threat” to Japan.
Pooling resources and teaming up may be the best (or only) option at this point. Can Toyota help Nissan turn things around? Or will it be too little, too late? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Check back soon for details. This is a developing story. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
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