Chevron CEO Mike Wirth has warned of significant risks to global oil supplies as the conflict involving Iran extends into its sixth month. Speaking on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, August 2nd, 2026, Wirth emphasized that escalating tensions and attacks on Saudi oil facilities by Yemen's Houthi allies have created a potential shipping crisis.

Wirth noted that the challenges to oil supply have expanded beyond the Strait of Hormuz to include the Red Sea and the Black Sea, increasing uncertainties and risks to global energy markets. He explained that energy assets targeted in the conflict have degraded the capacity of the energy system to meet global demand, contributing to constrained supply and infrastructure damage.

U.S. crude oil prices are trading around $84 per barrel, with the national average gasoline price at $4.09 per gallon—nearly $1 higher than the previous year, according to AAA. Despite these challenges, Chevron set a record by producing over 2 million barrels of oil equivalent in one day, marking an all-time high for U.S. production.

Wirth also stressed the importance of U.S. production as a stabilizing force in international markets and called on Congress to pass permitting reform to address oil market volatility and rising gas prices. He added, "And how quickly that comes back will be one of the things that determines when markets actually get back to some sort of a new equilibrium."

Satellite imagery from July 12th, 2026, shows the Bab el Mandeb Strait, a critical shipping waterway and gateway to the Red Sea, amid threats from Iran and its Houthi allies to close this route.

Sources