Aramco will increase its oil quota in Asia, despite its commitment to reduce production in 2019

Aramco will increase its oil quota in Asia, despite its commitment to reduce production in 2019

The president of Saudi Aramco during a session of the forum "Istqafa" (photo by Amran Haider)

Dammam: "Middle East"

Saudi Aramco seeks to increase its market share in Asia despite OPEC's production restrictions and seeks agreements in China and Africa, where it wants to become a global leader in chemicals, announced its president and general manager.
"Saudi Aramco will stick to any decision that OPEC could take to curtail its production in 2019. Deciding less than two weeks before the WTO meeting to decide on production policy, "We will always try to increase our market share, but at the same time, the company is committed to implementing any agreement reached by OPEC," he said. He adds that he still sees growth opportunities in Asia, referring to China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia, and that the company will continue refining projects in order to to secure new outlets for Aramco's crude oil production.
Al-Nasser told Reuters that Aramco was seeking to increase its stake in Asia. "Asia is a very important market for us.We are currently studying two possible joint ventures for refineries in China.We continue to increase our market share in various markets.We look forward to India, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, all these markets are very important to us, as well as other markets, even in Africa. "
Last week, Aramco announced the signing of five new crude oil supply contracts with Chinese customers, bringing the total crude oil it agreed to provide China in 2019 to a record 1.67 million barrels a day. Nasser did not explain how the company could meet increased demand if OPEC, headed by Saudi Arabia, its biggest producer, decided to cut its output year-round. next.
Asked whether Aramco was planning to cut crude oil exports to the US as stocks rose, he said: "All markets are important to us, the biggest Asian market, of course, followed by Europe and the United States.
Nasser added that the company's plans to expand the Motiva refinery in the United States and enter the petrochemical field at the refinery are proceeding as planned.
OPEC is meeting in Vienna on 6 December as Saudi Arabia expects OPEC and its producing partners to cut production by 1.4 million bpd to boost production. low prices.
Saudi crude production peaked at an all-time high of 11.1 to 11.3 million bpd in November, the main source of the sector told Reuters yesterday.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Faleh said earlier this month that Saudi national oil giant Saudi Aramco would ship less crude in December than in November, due to the fact that the country's oil and gas industry is expected to sell. a lower seasonal demand. Aramco's goal is to become a global leader in the chemical industry and the largest integrated energy company in the world with refinery expansion and petrochemical production projects.
Mr Nasser said the company plans to increase the total refining capacity, both inside and outside the kingdom, between 8 million and 10 million bpd, compared with around 5.4 million bpd at the present time.
"We are the industry leaders for upstream oil and gas activities, but for downstream activities, even though we are well positioned in refining, our ambition is much greater then that we are looking to refine between 8 and 10 million barrels a day. "" Chemicals are an important area for expansion and we will become a global leader in chemicals. "
To achieve this goal, Aramco plans to acquire a strategic interest in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), the world's fourth largest producer of petrochemicals.
Nasser said he hoped to conclude "soon" negotiations with the Public Investment Fund for the purchase of SABIC's sovereign wealth fund. He added: "We are conducting at the same time the examination of ignorance and negotiations. It takes time … Then, if we can conclude the negotiations, the issue of antimonopoly will remain in different countries, which will also take time. We have not set the schedule we need, but we hope to have a deadline soon. He also pointed out that Aramco's goal was to allocate about two million barrels of oil to three million barrels a day for the production of petrochemicals.

Economy