Al Jaber Says Hormuz Disruption Drained Nearly a Billion Barrels From Crude Inventories

Al Jaber, who is also the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, spoke in the presence of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) and the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

The Numbers Behind the Warning

Al Jaber said that since the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, nearly one billion barrels of crude have been drawn from inventories. He said diesel stocks in some markets are at their lowest seasonal level in 35 years, while other markets face an LNG supply gap of 600 billion cubic feet. "Simply put, the world has eroded its supply buffers," he said.

He argued that delivery has become as important as production. Before the disruption, logistics made up less than 5 percent of the cost of a barrel, he said, and they now account for more than 30 percent. In his words, energy security "is now also measured at the point of delivery."

Five Steps for the Industry

Al Jaber set out five measures he said would soften future shocks. The first is accessible supply, through more strategic storage, larger product stockpiles and flexible refining capacity closer to consumers. The second is routes to market, with infrastructure built before it is needed. The third, which he called operational intelligence, means moving from automated operations to intelligent energy systems that anticipate risk and lower the cost of each barrel. The fourth is confidence for capital, which he said policy, finance and insurance must all support. The fifth, which he described as the most important, is people.

He said the UAE had prepared for the disruption years in advance, pointing to ADNOC's integrated trading, logistics, investment in staff and the global gas, chemicals and energy portfolio of its investment arm XRG. He said the result was an "end-to-end AI-enabled operating model" and that ADNOC aims to become the most customer-centric energy company in the world.

The AI Link

Al Jaber gave ADNOC's new agreement with OpenAI and G42, announced the same morning, as an example of the partnerships the industry needs. He said the deal, guided by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will change ADNOC's field development, well management and commercial operations, and will make ADNOC the first energy company in the world to deploy OpenAI Frontier. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman attended the opening.

"From the moment ChatGPT was born, the world has asked what energy can do for AI. And now, together, we will find out what AI can do for energy," Al Jaber said.

He also said the UAE would continue to push for dialogue, diplomacy and political solutions that bring stability to markets and energy flows. He praised the armed forces, civil defence, first responders and ADNOC's front-line staff for their service during what he called testing times.

TahawulTech reported that this year's ADIPEC is the largest in the event's history, with 239,000 participants expected from more than 170 countries.

Why It Matters

For Gulf executives and investors, the speech puts numbers on how far the Hormuz disruption has strained supply and raised the cost of moving energy. It also shows that ADNOC is presenting AI as central to its resilience plans, not as a side project. The cost figures Al Jaber cited are his own and were not broken down by market in the published remarks.