Aramco chief looks to oil rebound as curbs ease
CEO upbeat about second-half performance with more countries planning to end travel bans
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser expects global oil demand to rebound in the second half of the year as more countries ease travel restrictions.
He made the disclosure during an interview with IHS Markit Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin.
“The worst is behind us,” said Nasser. “I’m very optimistic about the second half of this year. We see it in China today — it’s almost at 90 percent. In gasoline, it’s around 95 percent in China. Gasoline and diesel are picking up to pre-COVID levels. Jet fuel is still lagging in terms of less air travel. More countries will start opening up. So, we see that reflected in the demand on crude.”
The oil executive said that the pace of recovery would depend on whether there was a second wave
FASTFACT
low as $16 in April, representing a 21-year low.
Now analysts expect the oil price to settle around $40-a-barrel this year according to the latest Reuters poll.
Nasser said
that
Aramco’s localized supply chain helped to mitigate the impact of supply interruptions during lockdowns. “We have seen a lot of plants and factories and suppliers that support Saudi Aramco from Europe, including China and other places — they had to shut down because of the lockdown. That impacted us for a while. But because of the optimum level of inventory that we have — a lot of things are being manufactured in the Kingdom — it helped us a lot.”