MAKKAH — The world has lost about one billion barrels of oil over the past two months and energy markets will take time to stabilize even if flows resume, Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser 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,” Nasser told Reuters in a statement after Aramco reported a 25 percent 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 US-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. Energy supplies to global markets have been significantly reduced due to Iran’s continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has limited shipping operations and driven prices sharply higher since the start of the conflict.
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