高盛：近期的襲擊事件凸顯了海灣地區出口前景的不確定性，而局勢若嚴重再度升級，可能會加劇油價短期上行的風險。

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said early July 13 local time that in the fourth phase of retaliatory strikes against regional US targets, IRGC ground forces struck a US surface-to-surface missile base in Kuwait, destroying two High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launch platforms and ammunition storage points.

South Africa plans to rebuild a strategic petroleum reserve to mitigate supply risk, the Minerals Resources and Energy Department (DMRE) said in a July 9 draft policy paper for public comment. DMRE estimates a current shortfall of about 10 mln bbl and proposes a 60-day buffer—roughly 36 mln bbl based on EIA’s estimate of 600,000 bpd—split about two-thirds crude and one-third products. National Treasury and the state oil company will design financing and guarantee mechanisms for the reserve. Under the plan, licensed wholesalers and importers would be required to hold stocks equivalent to 21 days’ demand. South Africa last expanded emergency stocks in the 1970s with the Saldanha Bay facility (capacity ~45 mln bbl).