Saudi Aramco looks at new ventures around globe

State oil company Saudi Aramco wants to expand globally and is looking at potential joint ventures in several countries, including Indonesia, India, the United States, Vietnam and China, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday.

“We are looking at the current market status that, even though challenging, is an excellent opportunity for growth,” he told reporters during a rare media visit to company facilities in Dhahran.

The company is continuing to build its oil production and refining capacity, and its Shaybah oilfield is expected to reach output capacity of 1 million barrels per day “in a couple of weeks”, Nasser added.

Aramco has been working to boost Shaybah’s capacity by 250,000 bpd to rebalance its crude oil quality and help compensate for the maturing of other fields.

Nasser  added that there is a trend of increasing demand for Saudi Aramco’s oil and the company is meeting that demand, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday.

“We will meet the call on Saudi Aramco… The trend is increasing,” he told reporters.

Domestic demand during the Saudi Arabian summer will cause a slight increase in burning of liquids for power generation, he said, adding that Aramco’s average crude output in 2015 was 10.2 million barrels per day.

Source: Reuters