Saudi Aramco Seeks International Partners to Expand Strategic Oil Reserves After Iran War

Saudi Arabia and state-owned oil giant Aramco are seeking partnerships with other countries to expand strategic oil stockpiles as the kingdom anticipates a significant increase in demand following the Iran war, highlighting efforts to strengthen supply security after months of disruption to its oil production.

Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser told Al Arabiya Business TV on Thursday that oil demand could increase by 3 million barrels per day after the war. The company is exploring cooperation with other countries to expand strategic reserves as energy markets prepare for changes in consumption and supply following the conflict.

The initiative comes after the war exposed vulnerabilities in regional oil production and transportation, forcing Saudi Arabia to strengthen its capacity to respond to disruptions. Although the kingdom has restored much of its output, the experience has underscored the importance of maintaining emergency supplies, accelerating repairs and finding alternative routes to deliver crude to international markets.

Saudi Arabia's daily oil production fell below 7 million barrels for most of the first six months of the war, down from more than 10 million barrels per day before the conflict, according to the International Energy Agency. Output recovered to about 8 million barrels per day in September, Nasser has previously said.

While the recovery demonstrates the kingdom's ability to restore production, output remains below pre-war levels. Expanding strategic stockpiles could provide an additional buffer against future disruptions, although energy experts say the plan can only be sustained by the scale of the reserves, the locations in which they are held and how quickly oil can be released when supplies tighten.

International partnerships could also distribute the costs and logistical demands of maintaining emergency inventories across multiple countries. For Saudi Arabia, cooperation with overseas partners may help preserve access to important markets during periods when regional instability threatens production or shipping.

Alongside its efforts to expand stockpiles, Aramco has been strengthening its response to damage and operational incidents. Nasser previously said the company's incident-response capabilities were now more than six times faster than the industry average.

The company uses inspection drones to assess damage while incidents are still unfolding, allowing teams to evaluate affected facilities and begin planning repairs. About 90% of the materials required for repairs are produced locally or held in warehouses within Saudi Arabia, helping reduce reliance on overseas suppliers during emergencies.

Local sourcing and readily available inventories can be particularly important during a conflict, when damaged infrastructure may require urgent repairs and international supply chains may face delays. Faster assessments and access to replacement materials can shorten outages, although the speed of recovery ultimately depends on the extent of the damage and whether facilities can be operated safely.

"Today, our teams can handle multiple incidents simultaneously, and we continue to build this capability," Nasser told Reuters in an earlier interview.

Aramco is also studying possible alternative export routes to the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal, Nasser said, without providing further details.

The review points to the importance of transportation infrastructure in Saudi Arabia's oil security strategy. The ability to produce crude is only one part of maintaining reliable exports; the kingdom must also be able to move supplies through shipping corridors that remain vulnerable to regional conflict and disruption.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical passage for global oil shipments, while Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal connect important routes between the Red Sea and international markets. Disruptions affecting these waterways can force vessels to take longer routes, increasing shipping costs and delivery times.

Alternative export arrangements could therefore offer greater flexibility during periods of heightened risk.

The planned expansion of strategic stockpiles underpins a broader challenge for Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers: protecting supply reliability in a market where geopolitical shocks can quickly affect production, transport and prices.

Strategic reserves can help cushion temporary shortages, but they do not replace lost production or eliminate the risks associated with damaged infrastructure and blocked shipping routes. Their usefulness also depends on whether inventories are positioned close enough to consuming markets and can be released when required.

Nasser's forecast of an additional 3 million barrels per day in oil demand after the war also raises questions about how quickly consumption will recover and whether producers can meet that increase without putting further pressure on available supplies. The forecast is an expectation, rather than a confirmed increase in demand.

For Aramco, the combination of international stockpile partnerships, faster emergency response and a review of alternative export routes suggests an approach that extends beyond restoring output after individual incidents. The company is seeking to improve its ability to withstand repeated disruptions while maintaining dependable deliveries to customers.

Analysts say the challenge will be turning those plans into additional capacity and operational flexibility. Saudi Arabia's recovery to about 8 million barrels per day in September shows that production can be restored after severe interruptions, but the decline from pre-war levels illustrates the potential cost of sustained disruption.