Aramco warns that loss of 1 billion barrels will slow oil market recovery

The world has lost about a billion barrels of oil in the past two months and energy markets will take time to stabilize even if supplies resume, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco said, as shipping disruptions choke traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Our goal is simple: to keep energy flowing, even when the system is under pressure," Amin Nasser told Reuters in a statement after Aramco reported a 25 percent jump in net profit in the first quarter.

Global energy supplies have been severely pressured by Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has restricted shipping traffic and raised prices following the US-Israeli war.

"Reopening routes is not the same as normalizing a market that has been deprived of about a billion barrels of oil," Nasser said, adding that years of underinvestment had added pressure on already low global supplies.

Aramco used its East-West pipeline to bypass Hormuz and transport crude oil to the Red Sea, which Nasser described as a "crucial lifeline" to alleviate the global supply crisis.

Despite the changes in shipping routes, Nasser reiterated that Asia remains the company's key priority and is central to global demand.