Uncertainty looms as last oil tanker from Middle East arrives in California

The average price of a gallon of gas in California already stands at more than $6, but more uncertainty looms as the last oil tanker from the Middle East arrived in the Golden state this week. The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that the New Corolla, which left the Middle East for California before the war broke out, is delivering about 2m barrels of crude oil from Iraq to Long Beach. It was the last planned shipment to pass through the strait of Hormuz. The California Energy Commission vice-chair, Siva Gunda, told legislators on Tuesday that the state can meet fuel demand for the next six weeks with its current supply. California has the highest gas prices in the US. It imports about a third of its oil from the Gulf, and the state will now have to find new sources to replace it. Compared with other states, California imports significantly more of its oil supply from abroad. While oil prices have risen in recent weeks, the current supply has not yet been severely affected as markets have continued to receive oil that was already in transit when the conflict began. “The war in Iran and the closing of the strait of Hormuz has actually been buffered by the fact that all of these tankers were at sea at the time that the strait of Hormuz closed,” Michael Ross, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told ABC7 . “So all of that supply has still been making its way to consumers. …