Asia Steps In to Fill Diesel Supply Gap in Africa as Middle East Exports Crash

Asia’s diesel exports to Africa are surging to nearly five-year highs, as Middle East’s sales to Africa crashed to nine-year lows amid threats to shipping and refinery outages, a Reuters analysis of ship-tracking data and volumes showed on Monday. The Middle East conflict has made shipping of fuels, including diesel, to east Africa challenging, with ongoing security threats to tankers in both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In addition, attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen on Saudi energy infrastructure have…