Amid the ongoing US-Iran-Israel conflict and the extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passageway for the global oil trade, Chevron executive Andy Walz has come up with a bizarre advice for millions of Americans. With oil prices touching new heights in the US, Walz suggested that Americans should drive less to conserve energy, which in turn would help them save money.
“People should try to drive less. They should try to conserve energy,” Walz told CBS News when asked how Americans could try saving money at the pump. “We should be doing that all the time. Energy’s essential for people’s lives, but we should conserve it.”
Iran’s chokehold on the Strait, through which around 20 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil and natural gas passes, has caused severe economic damage to many countries that rely on Gulf crude, and it has led to a surge in oil prices around the world, including the United States.
Walz, who serves as Chevron’s president of downstream, midstream, and chemicals, added that there was probably no ‘silver bullet’ to bring down the prices for Americans while oil prices remain high for everyone else.
“It’s a global market for crude. We have crude here, that’s closer to us, that we’re all processing and using. That’s helping Americans buffer their price. If this goes on for an extended period of time, it’s probably gonna get tougher,” he said.
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Strait of Hormuz Blockade
Walz’s statement comes in the backdrop of President Donald Trump announcing the complete blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after the peace talks yielded no results.
“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social earlier this week.
“At some point, we will reach an ‘ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO IN, ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO OUT’ basis, but Iran has not allowed that to happen.”
With the current two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran scheduled to expire on April 22, the situation is likely to improve.
