Recent escalating tensions in the Middle East have driven global crude oil prices upward, creating ripple effects worldwide. In some countries, while fuel shortages have not yet hit vehicles, industries such as plastics and healthcare are already facing significant pressure.
In South Korea, a shortage of garbage bags is underway. Fearing potential supply disruptions, many citizens are stockpiling garbage bags, prompting some supermarkets to impose purchase limits. In Japan's healthcare sector, medical supplies including syringes, needles, and rubber gloves are experiencing shortages and panic-buying scenarios, with prices for some items surging by approximately 50%. Meanwhile, in Serbia, local panel manufacturers are grappling with soaring costs and unstable supplies, making operations increasingly difficult.
Why are these seemingly unrelated sectors experiencing such substantial impacts? The answer lies in petroleum's role as the source material for thousands of chemical products that permeate daily life.
Through refining and deep processing, petroleum separates into various components that transform into thousands of chemical raw materials, ultimately becoming diverse products we encounter regularly. South Korea's strict waste classification system requires specialized garbage bags that directly correlate with waste disposal fees. These government-regulated bags derive from naphtha, a petroleum byproduct. Korean media reports indicate approximately 50% of the country's naphtha demand relies on imports, with about 60% originating from the Middle East.
Petrochemical products appear throughout electronic devices like smartphones - from engineering plastics in casings and optical films in screens to epoxy resins in circuit boards, electrolytes in batteries, and rubber seals in speakers. Even electric vehicles, while not consuming petroleum directly, extensively incorporate petroleum-based materials in body panels, interior components, wire insulation, tires, seals, and shock-absorbing parts.
Petroleum serves not only as an energy source but also as crucial raw material for pharmaceuticals. Common synthetic medications like ibuprofen and aspirin originate from petroleum aromatics, while medical supplies including syringes, infusion bags, and sterile gloves use petroleum-based plastics like polypropylene and PVC. Synthetic fibers in clothing - polyester, nylon, spandex - similarly derive from petroleum, as do rubber soles, synthetic leather, and even textile dyes and functional additives.
Daily skincare and cosmetic products equally depend on petroleum derivatives, from lipstick wax bases and mineral oils in skincare products to film-forming agents in mascara and surfactants in shampoos. Beyond these applications, petroleum plays vital roles in transportation, construction, agriculture, and coatings, explaining how Middle East tensions create widespread "butterfly effects" across global industries.
How does China secure its petroleum supply? Technologically, coal liquefaction processes convert China's abundant coal reserves into valuable petroleum substitutes. These coal liquefaction products already serve multiple industries, with the Long March rocket series having utilized coal-based aerospace kerosene for missions. In 2008, the world's first million-ton commercial-scale direct coal liquefaction plant launched in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, producing 1.08 million tons of oil products annually and making China the only country mastering large-scale direct coal liquefaction technology.
A second-generation direct coal liquefaction project with independent intellectual property rights commenced in Xinjiang in 2024, projected to yield 4 million tons of coal liquefaction products yearly upon completion. Additionally, China maintains energy security through continuous optimization of energy structures, diversified energy import strategies, and enhanced strategic energy reserves.