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Aramco chief says Houthi attacks on Saudi had 'no material impact'
Strikes by the Iran-backed group had 'no material impact on our capabilities', Aramco president and CEO Amin H Nasser said
- PUBLISHED: Tue 4 Aug 2026, 7:45 PM
The chief executive of Saudi Arabia's state oil firm said Tuesday that attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels had no real effect on the oil giant's production.
Strikes by the Iran-backed group had "no material impact on our capabilities", Aramco president and CEO Amin H Nasser said during a call with reporters, adding that they included Houthi attacks in July, which targeted the company's operations on the Red Sea coast and elsewhere.
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The world has lost more than 2.6 billion barrels of oil since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February, the head of Saudi oil giant Aramco said, warning global inventories were running low despite measures to reroute flows.
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The lost supply is equivalent to nearly a month of normal global crude production, underscoring the scale of a disruption that has closed major oil chokepoint the Strait of Hormuz, upending energy markets, and shows little sign of easing.
"If the Strait were to open today, it would take up to 18 months at an average rate of 2.1 million barrels a day to replenish depleted inventories," Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said on Tuesday.
Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, posted a 44 per cent increase in net profit of $32.69 billion in the three months to June 30 as it reaped higher prices for crude oil, refined products and chemicals, while rerouting shipments away from Hormuz.
"Despite the unprecedented supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, we continued to demonstrate our ability to maintain business continuity by capitalising on our diverse asset base and multi-decade planning," Nasser said.
The supply disruption could widen after Houthi forces announced a blockade of Saudi Arabia's oil industry last month, adding pressure to Red Sea shipping and broadening the fallout from the conflict.
The blockade threatens both the East-West Pipeline route from eastern Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu — a key alternative to Hormuz — and Saudi export terminals on the Red Sea.
Yemen's Houthi militants also targeted Saudi oil installations at two Red Sea ports last month as the Gulf conflict expanded to a second front.
Nasser said recent attacks on facilities had caused some production interruptions, but said he was confident Aramco could restore operations quickly. The targeting of the facilities had no material impact operationally or financially, he added.
He said Aramco's storage capacity, its export terminals, and its ability to ramp up exports through the East-West Pipeline, a route he has previously described as a critical lifeline, were key to this.
He said releases from strategic reserves and commercial inventories, along with demand rationing and the East-West Pipeline, had helped cushion the global shock.