The amount of oil readily available to the global market is approaching dangerously low levels, according to top energy executives who warned this week that depleted inventories are making the market increasingly vulnerable to supply disruptions and price spikes.

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London that less than 6 billion barrels of commercial oil inventories remain worldwide, with much of that supply not practically available for immediate use.

Governments and energy companies have already drawn more than 1 billion barrels from commercial stockpiles since the latest Middle East conflict began, Nasser said. He described those withdrawals as one of the final major tools available to ease pressure on the market.

The International Energy Agency is preparing to release another 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel in an effort to ease soaring diesel prices. Nasser said the limited amount being released reflects how severely inventories have been depleted.

Global oil consumption stands at roughly 102 million barrels per day, according to the IEA. With demand remaining elevated while available stockpiles shrink, industry executives warned that the market has lost much of its ability to absorb another major disruption.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said the loss of those buffers has made the oil market more fragile and increased the floor beneath prices.

Rebuilding global inventories could take years, executives said, because additional stockpiles must be accumulated while simultaneously meeting ongoing worldwide demand. Not every barrel counted in storage can be immediately supplied to consumers, either, because some oil is tied up in pipelines, tank bottoms or other operational limitations, while governments also impose minimum emergency-stock requirements.

The strain extends beyond the United States and Europe. Kuwait Petroleum Corp. CEO Shaikh Nawaf Al-Sabah said his company is working to expand storage capacity domestically and at overseas refineries.

Vitol CEO Russell Hardy warned that the global market will remain heavily dependent on seaborne oil shipments leaving the Middle East through the winter because Western inventories have little additional supply available to release.

The United States is also facing historically low emergency reserves. Department of Energy data shows the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at its lowest level since October 1982.

Natural gas inventories are similarly depleted, creating another potential source of energy-price volatility. Petronas CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik warned that an unusually cold winter could trigger severe conditions in the natural gas market during the first quarter of 2027 if storage levels fall too low.

The warnings underscore the growing importance of rebuilding energy stockpiles as global markets contend with continuing geopolitical disruptions and limited spare inventory.