Aramco CEO warns one billion barrels lost will slow oil market recovery

DUBAI- The world has lost about 1 billion barrels of oil over the past two months and energy markets will take time to stabilize even if flows resume, Saudi Aramco’s CEO said on Sunday, as shipping disruptions choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Our objective is simple: keep energy flowing, even when the system is under strain," Amin Nasser told Reuters in a statement after Aramco reported a 25% jump in net profit in its first-quarter.

Global energy supplies have been sharply squeezed by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has curtailed shipping and driven prices higher following the U.S.-Israeli war.

"Reopening routes is not the same as normalizing a market that has been deprived of about one billion barrels of oil," Nasser said, adding that years of underinvestment have compounded the strain on already-low global inventories.

Aramco has used its East-West Pipeline to bypass Hormuz and transport crude to the Red Sea, an asset Nasser described as a "critical lifeline" to mitigate the global supply crisis.

Despite shifts in shipping routes, Nasser reiterated that Asia remained a key priority for the company and was central to global demand.

(Reporting by Yousef SabaEditing by Bernadette Baum)