Will fuel shortages ruin summer vacations?

(The Center Square) - Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to stop the buildout of an immigration detention facility in the city of Surprise.

Mayes accused the Trump administration of running “roughshod over federal law in its rush to expand detention capacity across the country.”

“We will do everything in our power to demand accountability from the federal government and to protect the health and safety of this community," she said.

Mayes alleged the federal government had neither conducted nor made public environmental reviews before deciding to convert the Phoenix area warehouse into a detention center, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

Furthermore, she alleged the detention facility violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, which mandates the federal government to find a suitable spot for immigration detention.

“The Surprise Warehouse is not (and will never be) suitable for use as a mass detention facility,” the lawsuit said.

Mayes said the warehouse was built as an industrial distribution facility. The Democratic attorney general added that since the federal government has not conducted any environmental reviews, Arizona does not know how it plans to modify the warehouse for the new detention facility.

“As constructed, the Surprise Warehouse almost certainly does not have the appropriate water and wastewater infrastructure to safely (and humanely) house hundreds of people,” the lawsuit said.

Mayes noted the proposed facility, which can hold between 500 and 1,500 people, is across the street from Rinchem, a facility that stores hazardous chemicals, and is approximately one mile from a high school and a middle school.

 “The location of the Surprise Warehouse will increase traffic and negatively impact the municipality and State’s ability to protect public health and provide emergency services, particularly in the event of an accident involving the chemical storage warehouse located across the street,” the lawsuit said.

Regarding Rinchem’s chemical storage, Mayes said the warehouse’s risk management plan was filed on Jan. 1, 2026, which was three weeks before the announcement of the ICE facility.

According to the lawsuit, Rinchem’s risk management plan “does not consider the potential hazards incurred by the presence of a mass detention facility next door, nor does it contemplate risk mitigation measures responding to the same.”

A DHS spokesperson told The Center Square Monday that the lawsuit is “not about the environment, but rather “trying to stop President Trump from making America safe.”

“The flood of illegal aliens at the border under [President Joe] Biden was devastating for ranches and riverbeds, but the left did not lift a finger. They’re feigning concern now because they want to obstruct the President from removing dangerous criminals,” the spokesperson said, answering The Center Square's questions by email.

“Prior to purchasing this site, ICE carefully evaluated the use of existing facilities to help minimize environmental impacts, including potential impacts to protected species, sensitive natural resources, and valued cultural resources,” the spokesperson added.

Brent Peak, the co-chair of Northwest Valley Indivisible, an organization opposing the detention facility, told The Center Square Monday that seeing the lawsuit filed against the DHS was “extremely validating [and] gratifying.”

“There are a whole host of reasons why [Surprise] is a bad place for a mass detention facility. It will never be an appropriate place,” he said.

Due to chemicals being stored near the location of the detention facility, Peak said the “requirements to build out that facility are practically inviable, if not impossible, to make it a safe place, not just for the detainees, but for employees [and] local people who will be working there.”

“ I fully expect that DHS is gonna walk away from this project within the next few months,” he said.

According to Peak, Northwest Valley Indivisible held two meetings with staffers from the attorney general’s office.

“They did not confirm or deny that they were working on it. They simply said, ‘Thank you for bringing this to our attention,’” he noted.

At the next Surprise City Council meeting on May 5, Peak said members of Northwest Valley Indivisible will hold up signs saying “You're Welcome.” He noted they will not be holding a demonstration or protest.

Northwest Valley Indivisible will “continue keeping the issue front and center until it’s confirmed that this ICE warehouse has been abandoned,” Peak said. 

(The Center Square) – For the first time in nearly 20 years, the sitting British monarch, King Charles III, and his wife, Queen Camilla, are visiting Washington, D.C., in honor of America’s 250th year of independence from the British crown.

President Donald Trump noted the irony in a speech Tuesday paying tribute to the royal couple and the shared heritage of the two nations. The South entrance to the White House flew British and American flags Tuesday as a military band played the British and American national anthems. There was even a performance from a group that appeared to be dressed like redcoats. 

“Here in the shadows of monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, honoring the British king might seem an ironic beginning to our celebration of 250 years of American independence. But in fact, no tribute could be more appropriate,” Trump said. “For nearly two centuries before the revolution, this land was settled and forged by men, women who bore in their souls the blood and noble spirit of the British. Here on a wild and untamed continent, they set loose the ancient English love of liberty and Great Britain's distinctive sense of glory, destiny and pride.”

The last visit from a sitting British monarch was when Queen Elizabeth II visited former President George W. Bush in 2007. Charles and Camilla arrived Monday afternoon and will leave on Thursday.

Despite a sometimes tense relationship with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the president and first lady have enjoyed a seemingly warm relationship with British royalty. During Starmer’s first visit in D.C. with Trump, he conveyed a letter from Charles inviting the president and first lady for a state visit. The invitation was historic, as the Trumps had completed their first state visit in 2019, when Elizabeth invited them to the U.K. for a three-day stay. In September, the Trumps visited the U.K. again on their second state visit, the first time an American president was hosted for two state visits. 

“The American patriots who pledged their lives to independence in 1776 were the heirs to this majestic inheritance,” Trump continued Tuesday. “Fate drew a long arc from the meadow at Runnymede to the streets of Philadelphia that ran through the lives of people born and bred on the British code that no man should be denied either justice or right.”

Charles is set to deliver a speech to Congress at 3 p.m., the first time a British monarch has addressed the American legislature since 1991.

Airbus said Tuesday its first-quarter profit fell as it delivered fewer planes to customers, falling behind rival Boeing for the first time in years.

The drop in deliveries to 114 in the first quarter, compared to 143 for Boeing, was primarily due to a shortage of Pratt & Whitney engines.

Net profit slumped 26 percent from the same quarter last year to 586 million euros ($686 million), with revenues sliding seven percent to 12.65 billion euros.

The first quarter results "reflect the lower level of commercial aircraft deliveries", said Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury.

"In commercial aircraft, we continue to ramp up and produce as per our plan while navigating the shortage of Pratt & Whitney engines," he added.

Investors and analysts follow delivery figures closely as Airbus and Boeing receive the bulk of the payment when they hand over aircraft to buyers.

Airbus said the availability of Pratt & Whitney engines "remains the key pacer of the ramp-up trajectory" for its top-selling mid-range A320 family of single-aisle aircraft.

The company maintained the target of 70 to 75 A320 family aircraft per month through 2025.

It also kept its 2026 target of 870 aircraft, which would beat its record year in 2019 of delivering 863 planes to customers.

Net orders of 398 aircraft during the quarter took its order book to 9,037, a backlog of nearly 10 years of production at current rates.

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(The Center Square) – Federal authorities executed search warrants at more than 20 locations across the Twin Cities on Tuesday, including several connected to or offering childcare.

Tuesday morning, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Homeland Security Investigations, along with other law enforcement partners, carried out 22 criminal search warrants at businesses throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul. This is part of a sweeping fraud investigation, officials have confirmed. 

“Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation,” the spokesperson said.

Homeland Security Investigations also separately confirmed its involvement.

“Homeland Security Investigations in cooperation with our law enforcement partners executed criminal search warrants in Minneapolis relating to the rampant fraud of U.S. taxpayers dollars,” DHS said. “The American people deserve answers in how their taxpayer money was abused.”

The raids come as Minnesota is in the spotlight of accusations it lost billions of taxpayer-dollars to fraud in the state, including the $300 million Feeding Our Future case.

In a statement, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., praised the operation.

“President Trump and his administration have made it crystal clear – our country will not tolerate waste, fraud and abuse,” Emmer said. “Thank you to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for taking action. Minnesotans and U.S. taxpayers across the nation are grateful.”

Homeland Security Investigations said it would not provide additional details at this time due to operational security concerns.

On social media, embattled second-term Democratic Gov. Tim Walz wrote in part, “If you commit fraud in Minnesota you’re going to get caught — and that’s exactly what we saw today. We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information. Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it.

“Today’s raids by state and federal law enforcement happened because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it. That’s how the system is supposed to work, and our agencies will keep at it as long as there are fraudsters around to put behind bars.”

Hungary's incoming prime minister Peter Magyar on Tuesday offered to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to "open a new chapter in bilateral relations" and address a long-running feud over the rights of Ukraine's ethnic Hungarians.

Relations between the two neighbours hit rock bottom before Hungary's April 12 election that saw Magyar beat long-time nationalist premier Viktor Orban.

Orban, who was ousted after 16 years in power, had repeatedly used the central European country's veto power to stall financial assistance to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia in the EU.

"I am initiating a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for early June, symbolically in Berehove, which has a Hungarian majority," Magyar said in a Facebook post after meeting the mayor of the Ukrainian city in Budapest.

"The purpose of the meeting is to help improve the situation of Hungarians in Transcarpathia and enable them to remain in their homeland," he added.

Ukraine's western Transcarpathia region is home to a sizeable ethnic Hungarian community.

Relations first soured in 2017 when Kyiv adopted a law mandating Ukrainian as the main language for secondary education. 

Hungary said the law disenfranchised tens of thousands of ethnic Hungarians, who live mostly in Ukraine's westernmost region of Transcarpathia -- part of the former Kingdom of Hungary until the end of World War I.

"The time has come for Ukraine to lift the legal restrictions that have been in place for more than a decade and for the Hungarians of Transcarpathia to regain all their cultural, linguistic, administrative, and higher education rights, so that they may once again become equal and respected citizens of Ukraine," Magyar said.

"If we can resolve these issues, we can certainly open a new chapter in Ukrainian-Hungarian bilateral relations," he added.

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A pirate attack off Somalia is the work of a new group of "opportunistic criminals", security officials said on Tuesday, complicating a threat that costs the shipping industry billions of dollars.

Piracy was rampant off the coast of Somalia in the 2000s, peaking in 2011 with hundreds of attacks, but was significantly reduced by international naval deployments and new tactics by commercial shipping. 

Yet the past week has seen oil tanker HONOUR 25 and cement carrier SWARD hijacked in the first major incidents in months. 

The SWARD seizure was the work of a group operating from the port town of Garacad in Puntland state of northeastern Somalia, a Puntland security official told AFP.

That is further south than the usual piracy hotbed focused on a cluster of three coastal towns -- Hafun, Bander Beyla and Eyl -- which is where the HONOUR 25 oil tanker has been taken. 

The new group is mostly formed of "rural youth" from an area "awash with weapons", motivated by poverty, and anger over illegal fishing by ships from China, Yemen, Iran and beyond. 

"Nearly everyone in this region is poor and nearly everyone is armed. Illegal fishing, especially from the trawlers, is making things worse," the official told AFP.

"If they are not countered, they will evolve into entities like those at war with the government," he said, referring to Islamist groups like Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State that have been fighting Somalia's federal government for years. 

- Clan dynamics -

As always in Somalia, the situation is complicated by clan dynamics, which are central to the country's politics and society. 

A second Puntland security official told AFP the group that seized the SWARD ware all from the same clan and sub-clan. 

That complicates counter-measures by the state, which could be seen as an attack on the clan as a whole.

"These men on the ship hail from particular sub-clans, which differs from the (Puntland) president's sub-clan.

"So if we strike and some of them are harmed, then it could lead to revenge killings between locals," said the official.

"That's why negotiations are best to diffuse this kind of situation but it also plays into the hands of the pirates," he added. 

The Puntland government has yet to release a statement on the hijackings.

For locals, renewed piracy can cause long-term problems, said analyst Jethro Norman, of the Danish Institute for International Studies. 

"Some households may see short-term cash.

"But the wider effect is higher prices for imported food and especially fuel, suppressed legitimate fishing and potentially heavier external naval patrols that complicate ordinary maritime life," he told AFP.

He said the international community needed to do more to prevent foreign trawlers operating illegally in the region, aggravating locals.

"Puntland has raised the alarm about illegal foreign fishing for years," he said. 

"Unless the international community directly resources the Puntland institutions that police this coastline, neither the immediate threat nor the political economy sustaining it gets resolved."

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Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court on Tuesday dismissed a money laundering case against Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan's former president, who has been incarcerated in her home country.

The trial of Karimova and a Swiss private bank opened on Monday but Karimova was not present as she is serving a 13-year sentence in Uzbekistan for embezzlement.

A spokeswoman for the court in Bellinzona told AFP the proceedings against Karimova were dismissed due to what she called a "persistent impediment".

Karimova, whose father Islam Karimov ruled Uzbekistan for 25 years until his death in 2016, was indicted by Switzerland in 2023 in a vast case involving alleged corruption, fraud and organised crime stretching over many years.

The full decision to dismiss the case will be published along with the final judgement, the spokeswoman said.  

"The judgement will address the potential confiscation of the seized assets and valuables held by Ms Karimova," she added.

Swiss domestic news agency Keystone-ATS, in Bellinzona, said the court justified the dismissal by saying Karimova would not be able to leave Uzbekistan before the statute of limitations on the Swiss charges expires in 2028, with Tashkent refusing to allow her to leave before the end of her sentence.

This non-culpable absence from her trial therefore constituted an impediment to the proceedings and the case against Karimova was dismissed, it said.

- Bank refutes allegations -

The dismissal "is equivalent to an acquittal under Swiss law", her lawyers, Gregoire Mangeat, Fanny Margairaz, and Romain Wavre, told AFP in a statement.

This "very clearly shows that in Switzerland, a person who has been arbitrarily held in a detention for more than 10 years cannot be tried", they said.

They also claimed it proved that someone "subjected to sham trials... cannot be tried in absentia" and someone "cannot be tried when their most basic rights to a defence are blatantly violated by a state --Uzbekistan -- that scoffs at the rule of law".

The Swiss charges covered the period from 2005 to 2012 and revolved around "participation in a criminal organisation", "money laundering", "acceptance of bribes as foreign public officials" and "forgery of documents".

The Swiss attorney general's office (OAG) first opened an investigation in 2012, although Karimova herself initially enjoyed diplomatic immunity, since she was serving as Uzbekistan's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

After that immunity was lifted in 2013, the investigation expanded to focus on her.

The OAG said its investigation led it to conclude that some of the funds laundered in Switzerland were allegedly deposited into accounts at the Lombard Odier bank in Geneva.

Proceedings against the bank and a former employee are still going ahead, the federal court spokeswoman said.

In a statement Monday, the bank said the charges "pertain to alleged organisational shortcomings in relation to the effective prevention of money laundering.

"The bank firmly refutes these allegations and intends to defend itself at trial."

After Tuesday's dismissal of the case against Karimova, the bank told AFP: "After nearly 15 years of investigation, this decision highlights the fundamental difficulties of the current proceedings -- with regard to all the defendants."

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(The Center Square) – The first findings of a state legislative investigation into the deaths that occurred at Camp Mystic, in Hunt, Texas, last July, were presented in a two-day hearing that began Monday. 

The Texas House General Investigating Committee held its first hearing after the legislature mandated an investigation. Former Harris County prosecutor Casey Garrett was hired to lead it, nearly four years after leading an investigation into the Robb Elementary School shooting. 

Garrett said the focus was a “factual objective investigation into the flooding event, specifically to investigate Camp Mystic to determine what happened in the hours of the flood and immediate aftermath. We have tried to keep this as objective and factual as we can. This is not about judgment, it’s about change.”

Vice Chair state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, said Garrett was picked because she “is brilliant, she is hard-working and she knows how to get to the heart of the matter.”

Last July 4, 25 campers and two counselors died at the camp after they were told to stay in their cabins as flood waters rose. A massive state-led search and recovery operation ensued to find hundreds of missing people after the historic flash flood killed nearly 200 in the Hill Country, with the most killed in Kerr County. Not soon after, state legislative hearings were held and new laws were enacted related to emergency response and camp safety. 

More recently, the Texas Rangers launched a criminal investigation into the camp as did the state agency that granted the camp’s license. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called for the camp not to reopen or be granted a license until the investigations are completed.

Multiple wrongful death lawsuits were filed against the camp and a state agency was sued. In a recent hearing in which the judge again ruled the camp could not destroy evidence and must not tear down any cabins where girls died, tensions flared. 

Camp Mystic’s attorney, Thomas Wright, told the attorneys of the Steward family, whose daughter Cile’s remains have never been found, “you’re gonna burn in hell.” After a video of his remarks were published on social media, he later apologized. The Steward’s attorney, Brad Beckworth, asked the judge, “is that the kind of conduct Camp Mystic is responsible for when we are simply asking to preserve evidence?”

Garrett said Camp Mystic owners were cooperative in her investigation so far. She presented written documents and examples of testimony to explain her findings. She played a Youtube video that Dick Eastland, the camp’s late owner, sent in a 2017 email about the flash flood dangers of the region. She also showed a 2018 email he sent to family members and others about flood dangers impacting the camp, including records of flooding and river rises dating to 1900. They indicate the Eastlands were “well aware” of flood dangers, Garrett said.

One email points to a 1932 flood catastrophe that nearly “wiped the Village of Hunt off the map” and three Camp Mystic cabins closest to the river were swept away. It points to 1950s and 1960s floods and a “relentless cycle of infrastructure under siege” from 1960-1977. “During these decades, Kerr County experienced major rises almost annually. Flooding ceased to be a generational anomaly and became a persistent logistical crisis,” it states.

“Flooding and flash flooding was a consistent problem that caused loss of life and property damage” at Camp Mystic and in Kerr County, Garrett said. She pointed to multiple floods impacting the camp, including in 1978, 1984 and 1987. 

Staff and campers were used to flooding, Garrett said, noting: “There became a complacent flood culture at Camp Mystic.” 

Every camp counselor Garrett said she spoke to said they were not trained in emergency response. “There were no drills of any kind, no evacuation plan, no radios, no walkie talkies, no cell phones, no tool kits, no ladders and no lifejackets” in the cabins, she said. “It is unthinkable that these girls would have no training,” she added. 

Those responsible for the youngest campers were only first year counselors, ages 17 and 18. Two counselors who died in the flood had expressed concerns to their parents about the youngest campers not having experienced counselors watching over them, she said.

She also pointed to written camp instructions to counselors for flood response: “Stay in your cabins! You will be informed of proper procedures over the P.A. system. When in doubt – get help! At least one counselor should be in the cabin at all times.”

“There was no way for counselors to comply with these rules,” Garrett said. She also said counselors she interviewed were told by camp owners that a flash flood, “that’s never going to happen.” 

She also identified how the camp’s plan did and did not comply with Texas administrative code and went through a timeline of National Weather Service emergency warnings. 

Garrett said she personally interviewed witnesses from all over the country, including family members, campers, flood survivors and workers who she says were afraid to assist campers during the flood. Her team also reviewed court documents, transcripts, information from attorneys and went to Camp Mystic multiple times, she said. 

The investigation is ongoing and a report is expected to be due to the legislature in May.

Elon Musk showed up for opening remarks Tuesday in a courtroom showdown with OpenAI over whether the artificial intelligence company betrayed its non-profit mission.

The legal clash across the bay from San Francisco pits the world's richest person against a startup Musk once backed and now competes with in the booming AI sector.

Musk appeared at the federal court in Oakland, seen passing through metal detectors, ahead of opening arguments for a trial that could have far-reaching consequences for the future of the AI industry if the Tesla tycoon prevails.

OpenAI's chief executive, Sam Altman -- once a Musk partner and now widely seen as his nemesis -- was also seen entering the building.

The ChatGPT-maker is a formidable rival to the chatbot Grok, made by Musk's xAI lab.

OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman "are confident in their position and look forward to the facts being known," their attorney, William Savitt, said outside the courthouse after jurors were selected Monday.

While Musk's lawsuit is part of a feud between him and Altman, it spotlights a debate over whether AI should ultimately serve to benefit a privileged few or society as a whole.

Court filings lay out how Altman convinced Musk to back OpenAI in 2015, acting as a co-founder for a non-profit lab whose technology "would belong to the world."

Musk pumped millions of dollars into the group, which he subsequently left.

OpenAI established a commercial subsidiary as it needed hundreds of billions of dollars for data centers to power its technology.

Musk argues in his lawsuit that he was deceived about OpenAI's mission being altruistic.

He is expected to testify in the trial, possibly as early as Tuesday.

- OpenAI slams 'harassment campaign' -

In a social media post on Monday, Musk derisively called the OpenAI chief "Scam Altman."

San Francisco-based OpenAI has countered in court filings that its break-up with Musk was due to the Tesla tycoon's quest for absolute control rather than its nonprofit status.

"His lawsuit remains nothing more than a harassment campaign that's driven by ego, jealousy and a desire to slow down a competitor," OpenAI said of Musk in a recent X post.

The judge presiding over the trial will decide by late May -- guided by an advisory jury's findings -- whether OpenAI broke a promise to Musk in a drive to lead in AI or just smartly rode the technology to glory.

Along with calling for OpenAI to be forced to revert to a pure nonprofit, Musk's suit urges the ouster of co-founders Altman and Brockman, who is the startup's president.

Musk, who had sought as much as $134 billion in damages, has since renounced any personal benefit, pledging to redirect any award to the OpenAI nonprofit.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has reserved the right to determine any remedies herself, without the jury's input.

OpenAI now has a hybrid governance structure giving its nonprofit foundation control over a for-profit arm.

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Concerns are growing that shortages of diesel and jet fuel due to supply problems caused by war between Iran and the United States could ruin summer vacations.

The chief executive of French energy giant Patrick Pouyanne warned last week that if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed another two or three months all of the world will face "energy shortages like those certain Asian countries are facing".

- Why a risk of shortages? -

Since the start of the war at the end of February travel through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies normally pass, has been closed by Iran.

Some 11 million barrels of oil per day are thus shut out from the market, according to the International Energy Agency. 

Gulf refineries also produce considerable amounts of diesel and jet fuel.

Pouyanne said the world can't make do without these supplies and not suffer serious consequences.

Several nations in Africa and Asia -- which were more dependent upon Middle East supplies -- have already had to ration fuel or electricity. 

Both the European Commission and member states have sought to reassure consumers about supplies, at least in the short term.

- Why summer worries ? -

Summer is traditionally the peak driving season as families pack their cars to drive to their vacation destinations or hop on a plane.

When supplies dwindle competition for them intensifies between the two major importing regions: Asia and Europe.

This happened in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and is shaping up to happen again.

"Asia rations, switches to coal and can experience shortages in places" while "Europe pays very high prices to avoid shortages," said an energy industry insider on condition of anonymity.

That means Europe is first and foremost exposed to the risk of a price shock but shortages could emerge if supplies from the Gulf remain choked off.

"Multiple cases point towards a shortage of diesel and jet fuel in Europe as the summer evolves, as imports from vital supply lines in the Middle East and Asia have waned with the current disruption," said Janiv Shah, vice president of Oil Markets and Downstream Analysis at Rystad Energy.

Airlines have raised ticket prices and cut back on their flight schedules to cope with high jet fuel prices, with warnings of shortages in jet fuel just weeks away.

"Unfortunately, it's very likely that many people's holidays will be affected, either by flight cancellations or very, very expensive tickets," the EU's energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen said on Sky News last week.

- What actions can be taken? -

Most nations have strategic oil reserves and those part of the International Energy Agency have already tapped those reserves to help contain surging prices earlier in the war.

The could do so again in order to ensure no shortages develop.

EU nations are trying to boost refinery production as much as possible, and in some cases boost production of diesel and jet fuel for which the bloc depends on imports.

Encouraging working from home and carpooling are also options to reduce consumption in the short term.

Over the longer-term, the electrification of transport and home heating aim to reduce reliance on imported fuels.

Price also has an impact on consumption.

Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank, said gains in crude oil prices have been limited in part because the high prices are reducing demand.

"Higher prices and shortages have already reduced consumption, with demand destruction estimated at 4 to 5 million barrels per day, or around five percent of global demand, mainly impacting Asia," he said in a recent note to clients.

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