On Monday, the CEO of Saudi Arabia’s state-run Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser, stated that the company would proceed with its output capacity spur plan despite cuts in capital expenditures (CAPEX).
Aramco will boost crude output capacity by 1 million bpd to 13 million bpd even when the CAPEX in 2020 and 2021 are being cut.
The company said that for this year, the CAPEX would be at the lower end of a range between USD25-30 billion. Aramco also predicted next year’s CAPEX to be significantly lower than the previous guidance of between USD40-45 billion.
At the moment, the company is proceeding with enhancing its maximum sustainable capacity (MSC) from 12 million barrels to 13 million barrels without having a major impact on capital in the upcoming year.
Previously, Aramco posted a second-quarter profit with a 73% fall due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the gearing ratio at end-June was 20.1%, affected by the acquisition of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), along with the consolidation of SABIC’s net debt on to Aramco’s balance sheet.
The CEO underlined the fact that the company’s gearing ratio target was still between 5-15%.
