Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in a Sunday interview that “upward pressure” on oil prices amid the U.S. conflict in Iran is “likely to continue,” as the war stretches into its second full month.
“We’re in a period where there’s been significant supply taken out of the system, and we are facing this upward pressure on prices and volatility that is manifest itself thus far and likely to continue,” Wirth told CBS News’s Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.”
Amid the war, shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the oil industry, has been restricted. In turn, global oil prices have surged since the onset of the conflict, which began in late February.
The U.S. instituted a naval blockade in the the passageway, blocking Iranian ports, earlier this month.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the Treasury Department unveiled new sanctions on a Chinese oil refinery and multiple shipping firms and vessels, attempting to disrupt Iranian oil exports. The sanctions target a central revenue source for Iran and put pressure on Chinese President Xi Jinping before President Trump heads to China next month.
Sanctions aimed at Iran’s oil network are part of the war effort to restrict Iranian funding for its military, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“Economic Fury is imposing a financial stranglehold on the Iranian regime, hampering its aggression in the Middle East, and helping to curtail its nuclear ambitions,” he said in a statement.
Still, oil prices in the U.S. are showing no sign of ticking down. Wirth, in the same Sunday interview, said jet fuel prices are only expected to worsen in the coming weeks.
“Inventories of jet fuel in certain parts of the world were at seasonally, relatively low levels before the conflict began. The Middle East refiners are significant exporters of jet fuel, particularly to Europe, where 75 percent of Europe’s imported jet fuel tends to come from those refineries. It’s not flowing today,” Wirth told CBS News.
“I think aviation is clearly an area where it’s going to probably get worse over the next few weeks,” the Chevron CEO added.
