Riyadh challenges markets and boosts crude production
Oil giant Aramco announces a 33% increase in production, touching one million barrels a day. Within 10 years it the production of natural gas will be doubled. Strengthening strategic partnership with China, Indonesia, India and Vietnam.
Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - In 2016, Aramco, the Saudi oil giant and the world's largest exporter, will increase crude oil production to meet the demands of consumers in view of the growth in global demand, announced Amin Nasser, chief executive of the group, which soon will release its own shares for a total value of more than $ 2 trillion.
The heads of the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, have decided to boost the production capacity of the Shaybah oil field, in the Rub Al-Khali desert in the south-east of the country. The growth will be 33% and will reach one million barrels per day of crude oil within the next two weeks. In the next decade the production of natural gas will also be doubled.
At a press conference at the headquarters of oil giant in Dhahran, on one of the rare occasions when the company has opened its doors to the public, Amin Nasser stressed that "Aramco will continue the policy of expansion."
In the annual report that is about to be published, he added, "you will see that there is a significant growth in our oil production compared to previous years." The goal is to establish partnerships with different countries, from China to the United States, Indonesia and India, from Vietnam to South Africa.
On May 7 King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud reshuffled the government dismissing the Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi and renaming the department. The new Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources is Khaled Al-Faleh, who had previously held the presidency of the "Saudi Aramco".
Since 2014 - when oil prices started to decline significantly - Riyadh has chosen the strategy of preserving the shares in the world oil market, refusing to cut production volumes. At the same time Saudi Arabia has begun to reduce its own dependence on energy exports.
Earlier this year several OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, had agreed to freeze production at January levels to block the fall in prices. However at the mid-April Doha summit there was no agreement reached on how to control the production among the various exporting countries.
The situation has been further complicated by Iran's reemergence, after the historic nuclear deal reached with the United States, which reopened the doors of the market. Iran, Saudi Arabia’s main regional rival, is increasing exports surpassing - as claimed by the Morgan & Stanley analysts - all "expectations." Also according to analysts the global market continues to have a surplus of at least one million barrels per day while global crude inventories are close to record levels.
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