Aramco warned about the depletion of global refinery reserves

Global oil refineries are operating almost at capacity limits, so the energy market has fewer and fewer opportunities to compensate for accidents and prolonged shutdowns of enterprises. This was stated by Saudi Aramco's head Amin Nasser.

According to him, the global refining system is under significant strain. If a serious unplanned shutdown occurs at one or several major refineries, fuel supply may come under additional pressure.

The situation is complicated by the reduction of global oil reserves due to supply disruptions since the beginning of the war in the Middle East. According to Aramco's estimate, the market has missed more than 2.6 billion barrels - a volume close to a month of global production.

Even in the event of a full restoration of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, replenishing reserves could take up to 18 months. The calculation assumes a daily additional inflow of 2.1 million barrels to the market.

High refinery utilization means that producers have limited opportunities to quickly increase the output of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. This makes prices of oil products more sensitive to accidents, repairs, and new disruptions in raw material supplies.

Aramco released the warning along with the results for the first half of 2026. The company reported that its net profit increased to $65.2 billion, and the average oil realization price rose to $90.1 per barrel, compared to $71.5 a year earlier.

Source: Saudi Aramco, The Guardian