For most people, the price of gasoline is the most obvious consequence of the war in the Middle East. As I write this article, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is $4.56. Of course in some parts of the country consumers are paying much more than that. This is a big story, and the truth is that gasoline prices are going to go even higher in the months ahead. But if you think that the price of gasoline is bad, just wait until you see what eventually happens to food prices. The price of diesel has been rising even faster than the price of regular gasoline, and fertilizer prices have been absolutely skyrocketing. Those costs will get passed along to the rest of us. It is just a matter of time. Meanwhile, our farmers are dealing with drought conditions that are unprecedented and now a “Super El Niño” is coming.

What all of this means is that food prices will rise to very painful levels.

So even though everyone is complaining about rising gasoline prices at the moment, one prominent economist is warning that “the next story is food”…

The cost of food in the U.S. appears poised to rise sharply alongside oil prices, as war-related supply disruptions put pressure on the companies and farmers who keep the country’s shelves stocked.

“The big story right now is oil,” economist Justin Wolfers told MS NOW on Tuesday. “The next story is food.”

Oil prices have risen over 50 percent since the conflict began on February 28, pushing gas prices to a nationwide average of over $4.50 for the first time since 2022.

Can you imagine what would happen if food prices were to rise another 50 percent from current levels?

Over the past year, many of the most common items that Americans purchase at the grocery store have already become much more expensive…

When compared to the same time last year, fruits and vegetables have seen some of the biggest price hikes. Tomatoes are 40% more expensive now than they were this time last year. Bad growing weather, tariffs, and rising fuel prices have all contributed to the huge change in tomato prices, reports the New York Times.

Coffee, another imported product, is 19% more expensive than it was last spring.

You’re also likely seeing inflated prices at the butcher counter. Meat is up 9% overall, but beef has grown even more expensive. Ground beef is about 15% pricier, beef roasts are 18% more, and steak is up 16%.

We can blame the war with Iran for the recent price hikes that we have been experiencing, because the war has made diesel much more expensive.

And diesel is used to transport most of what we eat…

What’s contributing to the price spikes? Fuel prices have soared while the Iran war prevents cargo ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global oil supplies. Diesel fuel powers fishing boats, tractors and the trucks that ship 83% of U.S. agricultural products.

Just as you’re paying more at the pump, so are truckers who transport goods all around the country. Some vendors and suppliers are adding fuel surcharges to make up for the increased cost of transporting and delivering their goods.

In addition, fertilizer prices have gone absolutely haywire, and those costs will be passed along to us once harvest season arrives.

The solution to this crisis would be for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.

But Iran isn’t willing to do that.

Instead, Iran intends to make the status quo in the Strait of Hormuz permanent…

Iran and Oman are actively discussing a permanent security mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is pushing to institutionalize and normalize a transit fee or toll on commercial shipping vessels navigating the narrow waterway. According to an Iranian diplomatic envoy, the proposed system is designed to secure the long-term positioning of Iran and Oman as the primary regulators of the strait, effectively transforming a temporary leverage point from the recent military conflict into a permanent sovereign right.

To formalize its grip, Iran’s newly established Persian Gulf Straits Authority began applying conditional rules and hefty transit tolls, in some cases exceeding one million dollars per vessel, while granting selective exemptions to friendly nations like Russia or China. By engaging Oman, which shares territorial jurisdiction over the Strait, Iran is seeking to build a coalition that validates these tolls under the guise of funding localized maritime security.

The US maintains an opposing view on the matter, viewing the permanent toll as a non-negotiable barrier to reaching a sustainable peace deal. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, international straits are governed by transit passage protocols that guarantee the uninterrupted flow of global commercial shipping, a principle the US insists must be restored without conditions.

This is one of the reasons why there is not going to be an agreement to end the war.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio just warned that what Iran is attempting to do with the Strait of Hormuz “will make a diplomatic deal impossible”…

“A toll collection system in the Strait of Hormuz will make a diplomatic deal impossible.”

“We are very disappointed with NATO allies, we will discuss the issue of troop deployment at the upcoming meeting.”

If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, a global inflation crisis is guaranteed.

And on top of everything else, now a “Super El Niño” is rapidly approaching.

We are being warned that it could potentially be the most powerful “Super El Niño” in recorded history…

Scientists have warned that an imminent ‘super El Niño’ could be even more powerful than a previous event which caused over 50 million deaths.

The 1877 El Niño was one of the most severe climate events in recorded history, triggering a global humanitarian disaster known as The Great Famine.

Climate reconstructions suggest water temperatures in a key region of the Pacific Ocean rose by 2.7°C (4.86°F), which caused disruption to rainfall patterns around the world.

If the Super El Niño of 1877-1878 killed 50 million people when the global population was just a fraction of what it is today, what would an even more powerful Super El Niño do?

An associate professor at Washington State University is telling us that “multiyear droughts similar to those in the 1870s could happen again”…

Estimates indicate the resulting scarcity of food and disease outbreaks killed up to four per cent of the Earth’s population at the time.

That would be the equivalent of at least 250 million people if it happened today.

Now, forecasts suggest water temperatures could potentially exceed 3°C (5.4°F) above average later this year – making the upcoming super El Niño even more powerful than the one nearly 150 years ago.

‘Simultaneous multiyear droughts similar to those in the 1870s could happen again,’ Deepti Singh, associate professor at Washington State University, told the Washington Post.

Worldwide food production was already going to be way down this year due to the global fertilizer crisis.

Now an immensely powerful “Super El Niño” is being added to the equation.

What do you think that all of this is going to do to food prices?

Needless to say, the answer is obvious.

We are in far more trouble than most people realize, but for now most of the population just continues to party.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post Everybody Is Talking About The Cost Of Gasoline – Soon Everybody Will Be Talking About The Cost Of Food appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

We have never faced anything quite like this. Diesel fuel and fertilizer have become far more expensive as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, and extreme weather is playing havoc with crops all over the planet. Here in the United States, we just experienced the driest first three months of a year in recorded history. No, that isn’t an exaggeration. Now a “Super El Niño” is coming, and that means that drought conditions are going to get even worse in many areas of the world. The “Super El Niño” of 1877-1878 resulted in widespread droughts that killed more than 50 million people, and now we are being warned that the upcoming “Super El Niño” could be even worse. Our farmers have never faced a “perfect storm” of this magnitude, and global food production is going to be way down in the months ahead.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization is publicly warning that a severe global food crisis could strike about 6 months from now if something really dramatic does not happen…

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz could trigger a severe global food price crisis within six to 12 months unless governments act quickly, the Food and Agriculture Organization warned Wednesday.

Decisions now by farmers and governments on fertilizer use, imports, financing and crop choices will determine whether food prices spike later this year or in early 2027, the agency said.

I don’t know what national governments around the world are supposed to do.

They can’t create fertilizer out of thin air.

Thanks to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, millions of farmers all over the northern hemisphere didn’t get the fertilizer that they needed for the spring planting season.

UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo is telling us that as a result “many places in the world will have problems of food shortage” once harvest season arrives…

Food shortages are expected to hit many parts of the world from September or October following a fertilizer production plunge, the U.N. Development Program’s head said on Monday.

“In September, (or) October, many places in the world will have problems of food shortage,” as agricultural production is expected to be much lower following the fertilizer production slump resulting from high oil prices amid Middle East conflicts, UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo said in an interview in Tokyo.

Even if fertilizer is available, many farmers simply cannot afford it.

In fact, one recent survey discovered that 70 percent of U.S. farmers could not afford to buy all of the fertilizer that they needed for the spring planting season because it has become so expensive.

Meanwhile, diesel has become painfully expensive as well.

Virtually all farm equipment runs on diesel, and as I write this article the average price of a gallon of diesel in the U.S. is sitting at about five and a half dollars.

But in California, the average price of a gallon of diesel has reached nearly seven and a half dollars…

According to AAA, the average price for diesel fuel in California is about $7.43 per gallon, which is $2.36 higher compared to last year. In Fresno, prices are slightly higher.

“In Fresno, you’re paying about $6.06 for a gallon of regular gasoline, but you’re paying $7.48 for a gallon of diesel,” Johnson said.

You may not care about what is happening in California, but you should because California produces more fruit and more vegetables than any other state by a very wide margin.

Drought is another major problem that U.S. farmers are dealing with.

In West Texas, the cracks in the ground caused by endless drought are big enough to swallow an entire human hand…

Scott Irlbeck crouched in a field of stunted wheat plants in a parched stretch of West Texas and slipped his hand into a crack wide enough to swallow it.

Last autumn, Irlbeck planted a crop that barely grew because rain never came. ​He now hopes his insurance adjuster will declare it a total loss so he will not need to spend money on pricey fuel to harvest it next month.

Coming into this year, the southwestern portion of the nation was experiencing the worst multi-year drought in at least 1,200 years.

And then the first three months of this year were the driest first three months of a year for the entire country ever recorded.

As a result, it is being projected that the winter wheat harvest will be a disaster…

Crop estimates underscore just how bad the situation is. Growers will see their smallest wheat crop in terms of production since 1972, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture; 1.56 billion bushels this year, down 21% from 2025. That’s especially harmful to Kansas, one of the top overall producers of wheat in the U.S.

This year, only 22 million acres of winter wheat will be harvested, and the abandonment rate is above 32 percent…

Only 32.4 million acres (13.1 million hectares) of wheat were planted this year to begin with, and harvested acreage hit just 22 million, marking abandonment, which is when farmers stop tending to a crop before harvesting, at slightly above 32% of this year’s wheat crop, according to USDA estimates.

Just think about those numbers for a moment.

Our farmers simply gave up on nearly a third of this year’s winter wheat crop.

Wow.

Looking ahead, we are being told that the number of acres of wheat that U.S. farmers are planting in the spring will be the fewest “since record keeping began in 1919”…

U.S. growers were poised to plant the fewest acres of wheat since record keeping began in 1919, as high costs for fertilizer, seeds, and equipment have made it difficult to turn a profit.

In 1919, there were 104 million people living in the United States.

Today, there are more than 340 million people living in the United States.

It doesn’t take a math genius to figure out that we are headed for trouble.

And now a “Super El Niño” is looming…

A “Super El Niño” may be on its way and could impact weather in the United States and worldwide for the next several months.

El Niño is described by the National Weather Service (NWS) as “a state where the water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator become abnormally warm.” These warmer waters trigger significant weather pattern changes across the globe.

One expert is warning that there is approximately a 50 percent chance that this “Super El Niño” will be the most powerful ever recorded…

“I would suggest there is roughly a 50 per cent chance of the event becoming the strongest in the historical record right now,” Paul Roundy, a professor of atmospheric science at the University at Albany, in the US, told BBC Science Focus. “A few weeks ago, I was suggesting maybe 20 per cent.”

In a previous article, I discussed the fact that the “Super El Niño” of 1877-1878 caused widespread global famines that resulted in the deaths of 50 million people.

So how many will die during the “Super El Niño” that will begin later this year?

According to the UN, the number of people around the world there were experiencing acute hunger was already at an all-time record high even before the war with Iran started.

Now global hunger is spiking, and when people get really hungry they get really desperate.

For example, just check out what is going on in Afghanistan…

Khwaja Ahmad barely gets out a few words before he starts sobbing.

“We are starving. My older children died, so I need to work to feed my family. But I’m old, so no one wants to give me work,” he says.

When a local bakery near the square opens up, the owner distributes stale bread among the crowd. Within seconds, the loaves have been pulled apart, half a dozen men clutching onto precious pieces.

This should break your heart.

One extremely hungry man in Afghanistan says that he is willing to sell his own daughters just so that he will have enough money to buy food…

Abdul Rashid Azimi takes us into his home and brings out two of his children – seven-year-old twins Roqia and Rohila. He holds them close, eager to explain why he’s making unbearable choices.

“I’m willing to sell my daughters,” he weeps. “I’m poor, in debt and helpless.

“I come home from work with parched lips, hungry, thirsty, distressed and confused. My children come to me saying ‘Baba, give us some bread’. But what can I give? Where is the work?”

This is what is already happening.

Six months from now, the level of desperation around the world will be so much worse.

We need the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened as soon as possible, but that simply is not going to happen.

The Iranians are never going to give President Trump what he wants, and they are preparing for the next phase of the war…

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf claimed Wednesday that the U.S. is looking to “start a new war,” a report said.

“The enemy’s movements, both overt and clandestine, show that despite economic and political pressure, it has not abandoned its military objectives and is seeking to start a new war,” Ghalibaf said in a statement shared by Iranian media, according to The Times of Israel.

“Close monitoring of the situation in the United States reinforces the possibility that they still hope for the surrender of the Iranian nation,” he reportedly added.

The next chapter of this war is not going to look like the last chapter.

The IRGC is openly telling us that they are ready to attack “in places you cannot even imagine”…

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned on Wednesday that any new attack on the country would provoke them to spread the war beyond the Middle East, raising the stakes of diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

In a statement reported by Iranian state media, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a powerful military force that answers directly to the country’s supreme leader, said that if “aggression against Iran is repeated,” it would deliver blows “in places you cannot even imagine.”

The Iranians know that they cannot win the war by fighting symmetrically.

So they are going to use asymmetric tools to get the job done.

And some of those asymmetric tools will not be conventional.

When fighting erupts again, I expect things to get really crazy.

What this means is that the Strait of Hormuz is going to remain closed for a long time, and that is really bad news for farmers all over the globe.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post We Are 6 Months From Global Food Shortages Because Farmers Are Facing A Quadruple Whammy Crisis appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

We are watching a slow-motion train wreck play out right in front of our eyes, and nobody can stop it. Every single day that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, commercial oil inventories will get even lower and national strategic oil reserves will get even lower. Right now the global economy is using more oil than it is producing, and everyone agrees that we are reaching a major crisis point.

Unfortunately, we may arrive at that major crisis point even sooner than many experts were originally projecting.

The head of the International Energy Agency is warning that commercial oil inventories are “depleting very fast”…

International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol warned that the tally of commercial oil inventories is shrinking at an accelerated pace.

“I think it is depleting very fast,” he told reporters at the sidelines of a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers in Paris, echoing comments from last week. It will be “several weeks, but we should be aware of the fact that it is declining rapidly,” he said.

He also highlighted that the spike in fertilizer and diesel prices comes at the start of the travel and planting season.

“This could have major implications for the food prices and together with the higher energy prices they might give a big push to inflation numbers,” he said.

Once the cushion that we are running through now is gone, energy prices will go completely nuts and we will see widespread rationing and shortages.

In fact, we are already beginning to experience a shortage of motor oil.

This is something that I wrote about yesterday, and today CNN issued a major report about this…

Wholesale motor oil prices are rising rapidly, and some industry executives are warning of imminent shortages caused by the war with Iran.

Damage to key facilities in the Middle East and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz have combined to create a perfect storm in this tiny but critical corner of the oil market.

The risk is that some of the most popular kinds of motor oil will be in very short supply, forcing drivers to delay getting their oil changed or rely on suboptimal lubricants.

“We’re looking at shortages — I have no doubt in my mind,” Holly Alfano, CEO of the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association (ILMA), an industry trade group, told CNN. “It’s a big mess — and it’s not going to be resolved quickly. It could take a year or so before we see any real relief.”

We all use motor oil, and so this is going to hurt.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has thrown global supply chains for motor oil into a state of complete and utter chaos…

The motor oil situation is another reminder of the fragile nature of global supply chains.

The problem is that almost half (44%) of the most important base oil used to make motor oil, known as Group III, comes from just three Persian Gulf producers, according to ILMA.

Those Middle East supplies have been derailed by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz after the war started in late February.

Not only that, but Pearl GTL, the world’s largest gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant located in Qatar, was attacked and seriously damaged in Iran. That means one of the leading suppliers of Group III base oils has been knocked offline indefinitely.

Can you imagine paying $200 for an oil change?

If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, that is not inconceivable.

Of course countless other supply chains have been severely disrupted as well, and global supply chain stress is absolutely soaring as a result…

One week after Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc warned CNBC of a “new wake-up call” for global trade amid the ongoing disruption of the Strait of Hormuz and a deepening energy crisis that could intensify further in June, UBS analysts are out with a new note telling clients they have “reactivated” their Global Supply Chain Stress Index in response to increasingly alarming signals emerging across global logistics networks.

“Supply chain stress is rising at its fastest pace since the early pandemic,” UBS analyst Pierre Lafourcade wrote in a note on Sunday.

Lafourcade explained that global supply chain stress is emerging quickly, with the index rising by 1.2 standard deviations in March and April, the second-largest two-month jump since July 2020.

Slowly but surely, the consequences of this crisis are starting to filter their way through the economy.

For example, more than 5,000 supply chain workers have already been laid off here in the United States…

A sweeping wave of layoffs and facility closures has hit the U.S. supply chain, with more than 5,183 workers affected across at least 20 states.

According to a report from FreightWaves by Noi Mahoney, the cuts stem from shutdowns, restructurings, customer contract losses, and operational consolidations in logistics, manufacturing, and transportation.

Major employers including FreshRealm, GEODIS, Ryder, and DSV have announced significant workforce reductions as companies seek to cut costs amid softening industrial demand.

Authorities have been trying to keep everyone calm.

But investors are starting to get really jittery.

In fact, Treasury bond yields are beginning to rise at a very alarming pace…

What the president hasn’t been able to do, however, is address the worrying rise in Treasury bond yields, which remain elevated heading into the Tuesday session. Benchmark 30-year bonds were trading near the highest levels since 2007 at 5.147%, and 10-year notes traded at a 15-month peak of 4.613%.

That could feed further into inflation pressures, which are already building as the economy holds firm, labor markets outperform, and government spending remains elevated from passage of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

We desperately need the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened.

But if more fighting with Iran erupts, that is not going to happen for an extended period of time.

On Tuesday, President Trump warned that there will be “another big hit on Iran” if a peace deal is not reached…

President Donald Trump said he was considering “another big hit on Iran” just a day after he said he delayed possible strikes following progress on a possible deal to end the war.

“I hope that we don’t have to do the war. But we may have to give them another big hit,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m not sure yet. You’ll know very soon.”

As I have detailed in previous articles, there is no way that the Iranians are going to agree to a deal that is acceptable to Trump.

So more bombing is coming, and Fox News is reporting that Israel is rapidly getting prepared for the next wave of airstrikes…

Israel is preparing to take part in a potential U.S. strike on Iran, despite President Donald Trump’s statement on May 18 that he had paused a planned attack, according to reports.

Citing officials, Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported Tuesday that officials also believe Trump’s announcement may have limited his options.

The officials suggested that unless Tehran presents a significantly improved proposal — which Israeli leaders consider unlikely — Trump may decide military action is unavoidable, the report says, according to The Times of Israel.

On Monday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with top military officials for five hours.

Needless to say, this was not a casual gathering…

Last night’s limited security meeting convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lasted nearly five hours – with the IDF chief of staff, air force chief, head of military intelligence, head of the Operations Directorate, and other senior defense officials in attendance – to ensure full preparedness for the possibility of an American strike, the report says.

There is a general consensus among pundits in the western world that the Iranians will eventually back down if they experience enough pressure.

They believe that because they don’t understand the Iranians.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazen Gharibabadi has publicly stated that there are only two options for his nation…

“Iran, united and resolute, is prepared to confront any military aggression,” Gharibabadi wrote on X. “For us, surrender holds no meaning; we either triumph or become martyrs.”

In their eyes, agreeing to Trump’s terms would be surrender.

So that isn’t going to happen.

The Iranians have been feverishly preparing for the next round of the war, and they are warning that they are ready to use “new equipment and new methods”…

Iran’s army warned on Tuesday that it would “open new fronts” if the war resumed. “If the enemy is foolish enough to fall into the Zionist trap again, and launches new aggression against our beloved Iran, we will open new fronts against it, with new equipment and new methods,” said army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.

They keep issuing veiled threats like this.

I am convinced that what they are hinting at is the use of unconventional weapons.

Of course if Iran crosses that line, the U.S and Israel will likely cross that line as well.

We are so close to an apocalyptic scenario in the Middle East, and most people in the western world have no idea.

Meanwhile, economic conditions are crumbling all around us, and we are going to see some absolutely crazy things happen in the months ahead.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post Commercial Oil Inventories Are “Depleting Very Fast” And Global Supply Chain Stress Is Spiking appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

There have been persistent rumors that industry insiders are bracing for a widespread shortage of motor oil. Are these rumors accurate? I decided that I was going to investigate this and discover the truth. Unfortunately, I have very bad news. Multiple sources within the industry are confirming that we are facing much higher prices and physical shortages of certain products if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened soon.

I realize that what I have just shared is not welcome news, but it isn’t going to do any good to stick our heads in the sand.

According to Axios, supply chains for lighter-viscosity synthetic oils are particularly vulnerable, and one industry insider is warning that “actual shortages are starting to appear”…

• Industry groups and analysts say lighter-viscosity synthetic oils — including 0W-8, 0W-16 and certain 0W-20 grades commonly used in newer vehicles — are most vulnerable to disruption.
• “Actual shortages are starting to appear” for some synthetic oil products, Amanda Hay, global lead for base oils at ICIS, told Axios, adding that “security of supply is the chief concern for industry players.”

What we are experiencing now is the leading edge of this crisis.

An internal memo that was apparently meant for AutoZone stores in the Southeast region got leaked to the public, and it is causing a great deal of concern…

Over the past week, reports about looming motor oil shortages have started popping up from multiple directions. The most pointed of them surfaced today, when a person posted what looks like an internal memo to the Southeast region of AutoZone stores.

In the memo, the writer says, “Realistic, middle-of-the-road estimates are for our average available supply in this product category [lubricating fluids] to drop by 40%.” That figure continues to pop up, and it basically means one thing. Oil changes, transmission fluid changes, really anything that lubricates your car is about to get more expensive. We reached out to AutoZone for comment, but haven’t received a reply at the time of writing.

So far, AutoZone has not confirmed or denied that the memo is real or not.

But what local repair shop owners are hearing appears to confirm that big trouble is brewing…

Shops on the ground are already bracing for it. Speaking to a local repair store here in Little Rock, Arkansas, a general manager tells Carscoops that “They are being very secretive about all that. They say the price is for sure gonna go up, but they don’t know how the mainline volume will be affected yet.”

Another shop owner in DC said on Monday that Mobil and Shell informed Costco and Walmart that they’re out of product to ship. Later that same day, he posted what appears to be a bulletin focused on managing supply chain issues. Guidance included partially substituting 0W-8 oil with 0W-16 and then doing the same for 0W-16 with 0W-20. These are just the most recent and easily accessible examples of the current concern.

What I have shared so far is certainly alarming enough.

But now Toyota and Nissan are both openly warning their service departments that shortages are on the way…

Rising fuel prices are not the only petroleum-related problem facing drivers this summer. According to internal service bulletins reportedly tied to Toyota and Nissan, automakers are now preparing for potential shortages of certain motor oils as global supply chain pressure spreads beyond gasoline and diesel.

The issue primarily affects low-viscosity synthetic oils like 0W-8 and 0W-16, which are commonly used in newer hybrid and fuel-efficient engines. These lightweight oils have become increasingly important as automakers chase tighter emissions standards and better fuel economy numbers, especially in hybrid-heavy lineups like Toyota’s.

Toyota is instructing their dealers to temporarily substitute heavier oil grades if necessary…

According to the leaked Toyota bulletin, the company warned service departments that 0W-8 and 0W-16 oils could become difficult to source due to production and logistics constraints affecting the petrochemical industry.

To manage inventories, Toyota reportedly instructed dealers to occasionally substitute heavier oil grades for certain service intervals. The guidance specifically notes that these substitutions are intended only as temporary measures rather than permanent changes to maintenance schedules.

And it is being reported that Nissan is warning their dealers to “expect oil allocations limited to roughly 55% of prior-year supply levels”…

Nissan’s draft bulletin reportedly warned dealers to expect oil allocations limited to roughly 55% of prior-year supply levels. The company later confirmed the authenticity of the document, although it stated the memo itself had not yet been officially distributed across the dealer network.

The shortage concerns are not isolated to one automaker, either. Nissan’s customer communication draft specifically stated the supply issue is affecting the entire automotive industry rather than only Nissan-branded service departments.

Clearly, there is widespread expectation that at least certain types of motor oil will be in short supply throughout the rest of this year.

So I would encourage you to stock up while you still can.

Meanwhile, the largest budget airline in Europe is bracing for an “Armageddon situation” due to a looming shortage of jet fuel…

Europe’s biggest budget airline has warned weaker carriers could collapse under soaring jet fuel costs as the industry braces for what one executive described as a possible ‘Armageddon situation’.

Ryanair finance chief Neil Sorahan said the airline has contingency plans in place as fears grow over fuel shortages and surging oil prices linked to instability in the Middle East and disruption risks around the Strait of Hormuz.

‘Do we have plans for some kind of Armageddon situation? Of course we do,’ Sorahan told CNBC.

I don’t think that this will be a major problem in the United States yet.

Asia and Europe will be the first to experience a serious lack of jet fuel.

But one thing we are already experiencing in the United States is much higher gasoline prices…

US gas prices have gone up, and up, and up since the country bombed Iran in late February. In March, I reported that the average price of gas in the country had gone up from $2.89/gallon to $3.48/gallon. Now, the average price of gas in the US is $4.517/gallon. That’s a 56% increase in the price of gasoline since the US bombed Iran!

Read the last sentence of that quote again.

A 56 percent increase in just a matter of weeks is insane.

Sadly, things will only get worse if the fighting in the Middle East resumes.

Retired Army General Jack Keane has close ties to the Trump administration, and he just told Fox News that “we’re on the cusp of going back into military operations”…

“Where are we? The president has exhibited a huge amount of patience here since the ceasefire on April the 8th. And we’ve tried to work a deal with these guys, and it just doesn’t seem possible. And where we are, we’re on the cusp of going back into military operations. When we stopped. Bill and Dana, we had two weeks to go, a little less than 30% of the targets. Those targets remain, but we have better intelligence now, after these five, six weeks. So that target list is expanded. It’s considerably more comprehensive,” he continued. “It’ll be a combined operation with the United States and Israel going full throttle, all out, no half measures here whatsoever. And when those target lists are complete and they will consist of the rest of the weapons that are remaining, to indicate some of what you just mentioned, to include what remains of nuclear, and also all the organizations that sustain the regime. We have better intelligence on locations and other things associated with that, and certainly they’re going to be a comprehensive target list in of itself, and then a grouping of targets that really deal with all of Iran’s revenue sources to force an economic collapse of the regime. Obviously, Kharg Island blockade is having significant impact. But this attack will even further aggravate their ability to gain revenue source. Without revenue, it’s hard to see how this regime can survive. So we put it on a path.”

I believe that General Keane is correct.

I believe that we are right on the brink of more fighting.

On Sunday, President Trump reportedly met with his national security team in the White House Situation Room…

Axios’s Barak Ravid broke the news amid a flurry of new speculation that President Donald Trump will likely move toward resumed military operations against Iran this week if the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit hub, is not swiftly reopened.

“U.S. officials say President Trump wants a deal to end the war, but is considering resuming it due to Iran’s rejection of many of his demands and refusal to make meaningful concessions on its nuclear program,” Ravid reported, citing U.S. officials.

Trump warned on Sunday that “the clock is ticking” for Iran to make a deal and threatened “there won’t be anything left of them” if they don’t do so “FAST.” Axios also broke the news on Sunday that Trump will meet with his top national security officials in the White House Situation Room to discuss the next steps in possibly resuming the war. Ravid added in his report: “The senior U.S. official said that if Iran doesn’t shift its position, the U.S. will have to continue the negotiations ‘through bombs.’”

Also on Sunday, Trump posted the following map on his Truth Social account…

What are Iranian leaders thinking when they see something like that?

If there was any hope left for a peace agreement, Trump should not be posting an image that suggests that Iran is about to be attacked from all sides.

On Monday, Trump posted a message on his Truth Social account which openly admitted that he had been planning to order an attack on Iran on Tuesday…

Of course the truth is that there isn’t going to be a deal.

The Iranians are not even willing to talk about their nuclear program at this point, and they are insisting that the U.S. agree to five key demands before they will even sit back down at the table…

1. Ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon
2. Lifting all sanctions
3. Releasing frozen Iranian assets
4. Compensation for war damages and losses
5. Recognition of Iran’s sovereign rights over the Strait of Hormuz

President Trump will never agree to these demands.

And the Iranians will never give President Trump what he wants.

So it appears to be inevitable that more military conflict is coming, and the Iranians are warning that they have new “surprises” in store for us…

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday that Tehran is continuing to “pursue diplomacy with seriousness,” but that the Islamic Republic “will not be subdued by contradictory behavior and threats from the opposing side.”

“We are fully prepared for every scenario,” he said, warning that, “in the event of any reckless action we will respond with full strength, and I assure you that our armed forces will definitely have new ‘surprises’ for the enemy.”

The bottom line is that the Strait of Hormuz is not going to be reopened any time soon.

So there will be rationing and there will be shortages.

And the entire global economy is entering a major downturn.

We really are facing a nightmare scenario, and most of the general population still has no clue.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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