The head of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned energy giant Aramco has warned that refilling global oil inventories, sharply depleted by the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, could take years, and that the squeeze on refined fuels may yet worsen.
“Until Hormuz fully reopens and confidence returns, the crude reality is that pressure at both ends of the barrel will intensify,” Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told the Energy Intelligence conference in London, referring to the Strait of Hormuz. “Even then, replenishing inventories while meeting demand could take up to two years.”
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and Israel launched an unprovoked aggression against the country in late February. Iranian officials have said the waterway will remain closed until Washington meets Iran’s seven conditions set out in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
The Iranian armed forces seized operational control of the Strait in response to unprecedented attacks on Iranian sovereignty and civilian infrastructure. Tehran has repeatedly made clear that any reopening, or any return to normal maritime traffic, depends on the United States ending its military aggression, lifting its naval blockade, and formally recognizing Iran’s sovereign rights and strategic red lines.
The closure has sent shockwaves through the global economy, severely disrupting Western energy supplies and exposing vulnerabilities in the US military’s logistical networks in the region.
Nasser’s remarks came shortly after G7 governments, under pressure from US President Donald Trump, agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves.
He noted that roughly three billion barrels of oil supply have been lost since the US-Israeli aggression began, while only about one billion barrels have been released from stocks.
Most of the inventory decline so far has come from commercial stocks. Nasser said the roughly six billion barrels still held in storage are “not practically available,” adding that “the system is already straining.”
The continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, together with damage to critical Persian Gulf energy infrastructure, especially after recent retaliatory Yemeni strikes on Saudi Arabia, has deepened concerns over future oil supplies.
On July 20, Yemen announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia in response to “an unjust and oppressive siege” lasting nearly 12 years. Yemeni armed forces have since reported a series of successful operations against vessels linked to Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, as well as targets inside the kingdom.
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed a blockade on Yemen and launched a comprehensive military offensive, backed militarily, politically, and logistically by the United States and several Western countries.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis have been killed, yet Saudi Arabia has failed to achieve its primary goal of restoring a puppet government aligned with its interests.
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