The US and Iran seemed to be making progress on Monday towards a deal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz after three months of oil and gas flows being reduced to a trickle. Though stockpiles and other measures have partly offset the squeeze so far, JPMorgan had warned that, at current drawdown rates, without a deal commercial oil stocks could reach critically low levels by June. Yet even if the strait reopens, energy flows will take months to normalise, and governments will still face tricky trade-offs and the potential need to impose curbs on fuel demand.
周一，美国与伊朗似乎在达成一项可能重新开放霍尔木兹海峡的协议方面取得进展。此前三个月，经由该海峡的石油和天然气流量被大幅减缓至几近涓滴。尽管库存和其他措施在一定程度上缓解了供应吃紧局面，但摩根大通(JPMorgan)曾警告称，按目前的消耗速度，如果无法达成协议，商业石油库存到6月份可能会降至危险的低位。即便海峡重新开放，能源流动仍需数月才能恢复正常，各国政府依然要进行艰难取舍，并可能被迫对燃料需求实行限制。