Aramco Says Oil Spare Capacity to Shrink as People Fly More

(Bloomberg) -- Spare capacity in the oil market will shrink significantly next year as travel rebounds and amid a lack of investment among producers, according to Saudi Aramco.

Surplus supplies are the equivalent of 3 million to 4 million barrels a day but will fall as demand for jet fuel increases, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said.

“The buffer might diminish, especially next year,” he said Tuesday during the Nikkei Global Management Forum, which he spoke at via video.

Read more: Aramco Warns World’s Spare Oil Supplies Are Falling Rapidly

Airline fuel is one of the last oil products for which demand is still down heavily since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Daily use of jet fuel and kerosene stands at about 5.5 million barrels, compared with almost 8 million in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency.

Overall consumption of oil will climb above 100 million barrels a day in 2022, according to Nasser. That would take it close to record levels.

Diminishing spare capacity is made worse because too few oil companies are trying to raise their output capacity, he said.

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