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.
On today’s sunny side up episode of Quick Charge, we take a look at the latest from the world of solar power, and discuss Congressional Republicans’ plans to limit your energy independence by eliminating a critical tax credit for homeowners nearly ten years early. (!)
We’ve also got a quick review of a massive solar farm powering 200,000 homes in Indiana and the biggest solar project East of the Mississippi – both part of a record 98% of all new power generation and grid capacity introduced in 2025 coming from wind and solar. Those are jobs, those are lower utility rates, those are energy independence … so why are Congressional Republicans working to make that more expensive?
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If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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A Waymo autonomous vehicle drives along Masonic Avenue on April 11, 2022 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Alphabet’s Waymo unit has received approval to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to more parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose.
In March, the company submitted a request to the California Public Utilities Commission to gain approval for its latest passenger safety plan, a key step in gaining permission to operate driverless vehicles across a broader area. On Monday, the proposed expansion was approved, allowing for Waymo’s driverless coverage to extend from San Francisco down through the Peninsula.
“We’re very excited to share that the CPUC has approved our application to operate our fully autonomous commercial ride-hailing service in the South Bay and nearly all of San Jose!” the company wrote in a post on X on Monday. “While this won’t change our operations in the near-term, we’re looking forward to bringing the benefits of Waymo One to more of the Bay Area in the future.”
The $5 billion Empire Wind is back in business. The Trump administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has lifted its stop-work order for Empire Wind, a major offshore wind project off the coast of New York led by Empire Offshore Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Equinor. Construction is now allowed to resume.
Equinor CEO Anders Opedal welcomed the news, saying the restart reinforces Equinor’s commitment to delivering clean energy while supporting local economies and saving thousands of jobs. He also credited a wide coalition of officials for helping get the project back on track, including Trump, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and congressional leaders like Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Dan Goldman. Opedal also thanked the Norwegian prime minister and the minister of finance for raising the issue with the US administration.
Governor Hochul said in a statement that “countless conversations with Equinor and White House officials” had taken place.
Neither the BOEM nor the Department of the Interior has issued a comment.
The Trump administration halted construction of the 54-turbine Empire Wind on April 16, but discussions between Equinor, regulators, and leaders at the federal, state, and city levels led to a reversal. That means Empire Wind can now push ahead with its goal of powering 500,000 New York homes with offshore wind energy.
“This project delivers on the energy ambitions shared by the US and New York by providing a vital new source of power to the region,” said Molly Morris, president of Equinor Wind US. She added that Empire Wind is boosting supply chain investments across the country, with activity in New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and South Carolina.
Equinor plans to reassess the project’s financials in the second quarter. The goal is still to install turbines offshore in 2025 and hit full commercial operation by 2027. The company says it will work with suppliers and regulators to minimize any delays from the month-long pause.
Empire Wind was first awarded its offshore lease in 2017 after a competitive federal process. It received its final construction green light in early 2024 following an extensive environmental review. Construction kicked off shortly after, and the project is now over 30% complete.
The US is a major market for Equinor. The Norwegian energy giant says it has invested around $60 billion in US energy projects since the early 2000s, more recently in low-carbon solutions, critical minerals, and renewables. Empire Wind is one of its flagship projects in the US.
Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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