The tanks in Cushing, Oklahoma, are hitting bottom
cnn.com
cnn.com
seems it's called a floating roof tank :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_floating_roof_tank
And it prevents vapor loss or needing vapor overhead as the roof floats directly on the surface. Rain/snow water is pumped out off the top of the roof as needed.
Not quite. Once the conflict ends, there will a lag of several months before the tanks will start filling up again. So even if it ends tomorrow, we may still have to ban oil exports for some time. I don't think there are any political ramifications for Trump---he has complete control over what used to be the Republican Party, and banning exports would probably actually help him with undecideds. But he will get heat from his sponsors and handlers in the oil industry. Policy-wise, Trump is a blank sheet of paper, continuously filled in by anyone in a position of power who flatters or bribes him. And the oil industry has been a major patron for him.
This is what most people seem to be missing. A price spike is pretty much inevitable @ this point. Regardless of Iran-US deal or not.
How high the spike(s)? How long? How elastic is world's demand in near-future, as prices spike? We'll find out.
He doesn't mean you and I, of course, or the US as a whole. Hell, he barely means Big Oil. We, for Trump = "me, my family and my friends".
But it will only take a few days before the tanks start filling up again. A lot of oil runs through this facility: most of the U.S. production excluding the West Coast. They're only running dry right now because other countries are buying expensive U.S. oil on the spot market because they can't get the (cheaper) Middle East oil they already have long-term contracts for. Once the conflict ends, the only lag time for them to switch away from U.S. oil is the time it takes for the tankers to get to their destinations, which is measured in days and weeks, not months.
There are multiple issues that will force a lag of at least a couple of months. First, the issue of the mines that have been reported. Second, the tanker owners will want to be quite sure hostilities aren't going to erupt again. Third, while tankers that are trapped will leave, there will be a major lag while tankers that have been moved to other parts of the world get redirected back to the Strait to fill up. It will indeed be months before there is enough oil flowing to start retaining reserves again. It isn't like the state of shipping was frozen the day the war started and will unfreeze as soon as the ink is dry on the new cease-fire deal.
He's just never really been good at it.
Unless... unless the government of Iran falls during the stalling. If they get no oil revenue... maybe? Could it happen?
He can't take a worse deal than the Obama deal he spent years criticizing then personally destroyed, and the Iranians don't seem very inclined to give him anything better.
But this stuff won't last forever. If the Hormuz blockage doesn't resolve, things will get bad. You're seeing a patient that's a little more resilient than we thought, but who is mostly being carried through by massive blood transfusions. This buys time, but does not heal the patient.
And even more importantly, China has slashed its crude imports, turning instead to massive stockpiles. (https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/09/business/oil-strait-of-hormuz...)
Sounds like they're burning through their reserves as well. But since China's economy is more centrally controlled, it's likely they keep bigger reserves.
Of course there's plastics & other uses. But China has gone big on renewables & battery tech as you know. It definitely helps.
Yes, and that's why I read TFA. And it was interesting. My point still stands, however, that every previous doom prediction has been wrong.