Industry analysts say fuel price surge could lead to canceled flight routes that could snarl travelers’ plans

California’s jet fuel supply has dropped to a level not seen since 2023, as turmoil in the Middle East continues to squeeze the global oil market.

As of 17 April, the state’s jet fuel stock was just over 2.6m barrels, in comparison to 3.2m barrels two years prior, according to the California energy commission (CEC), which publishes a refinery stocks data dashboard.

California received 61.1% of its oil supply from foreign sources in 2025, according to the CEC – a majority of whom are Asian refiners. The foreign dependence is a shift from the early 1990s, when nearly half of its oil supply came from state-owned refineries, a change that some energy researchers attribute to air quality regulations.

That supply has been disrupted, however, by the US and Israel’s war with Iran. Asia imported more than 14m barrels a day of crude Middle Eastern oil in 2025. Traffic in the strait of Hormuz, a major waterway for oil vessels, has plunged.

Since the war’s outbreak, jet fuel prices have climbed.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldOP
    8·
    8 days ago

    I wish a very enthusiastic ‘fuck you’ to the 1% and their private jets, and I hope this dumbass war that they supported for Israel makes it so they can’t fly around the globe at will this summer and they’re stuck at home watching Netflix like the rest of Americans.

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
      6·
      8 days ago

      Unfortunately, unless the government starts rationing jet fuel, the only control mechanism will be the price signal.

      Which means the jet fuel goes to the highest bidder. Billionaires will always be able to afford fuel, but commercial air might not.