Saudi Aramco chief to skip key energy event in US as oil crises grows amid Strait of Hormuz tensions

Amid the Hormuz row, Aramco, the world’s largest oil producing company, is facing an energy crisis as it is having to reroute much of its crude.

The worsening war-situation between the United States and Iran has reportedly prompted Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser to withdraw from a major energy conference in Houston which will begin on Monday. Track live updates on Middle East conflict

File photo of President and CEO of Aramco Amin Nasser. (REUTERS)

Nasser was scheduled to attend the CERAweek by S&P Global on Tuesday, but won't be participating in the event, Bloomberg reported quoting an anonymous source, who further said that the CEO’s priority is dealing with the situation in the Middle East. Nasser's decision to not attend the conference has not been made public yet.

The closure of Strait of Hormuz amid the raging Iran-US war threatens to create an energy crisis with Aramco, the world’s largest oil producing company, having to reroute much of its crude. Another setback for Aramco has been the Iranian aerial attacks which targeted its assets in the region over the past few weeks.

Protesters carry placards and wave Iranian flags on Whitehall during of a protest march in central London on March 21, 2026., calling for the bombing of Iran to stop. (AFP)

Nasser warned earlier this month that the impact on global oil markets will be “catastrophic” the longer the disruption from the Iran war drags on. The war in the Middle East has pushed the oil and gas prices to surge with brent crude futures trading above $110 a barrel at the market open in early Asian trading hours on Monday.

As the deadlock over Strait of Hormuz continues, Saudi Arabia has rerouted oil via the massive East West Pipeline and ramped up exports from the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. On Thursday, loadings were briefly halted following an Iranian attack, a reminder that flows can be uneven in such a volatile environment.

Hormuz deadlock

Iran has said it is ready to close the Strait of Hormuz "indefinitely" if the US threatens to bomb Iranian energy facilities, CNN reported. As the tensions continue to escalate, Iran's Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned the US against any misadventures and said that if Iran's energy facilities come under attack, American financial entities which finance the military budget, energy and critical infrastructure in the region would be considered legitimate targets for Tehran.

The Iranian armed forces in a statement on Sunday, issued the latest warning and underlined retribution lest its power industry is affected.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) chief on Monday warned that the world could face the worst energy crisis in decades amid the fallout from the conflict in West Asia, AFP reported. He also warned that the global economy is under 'major threat' from the Strait of Hormuz crisis, adding that no country in the world will be ‘immune’ to what he called potentially the “worst energy crisis” that might be coming.

With inputs from Bloomberg