China’s recently announced economic stimulus package has prompted the head of Saudi Aramco to say he remains ‘bullish’ on the Asian nation’s oil demand for the rest of this year, and into the next.
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser added that the company is aiming to boost daily oil production, with China “a huge market and we are investing with our partners.”
Speaking at the International Energy Week conference in Singapore, he also said that the demand for aviation fuel is a "bright spot" in the Chinese market.
China's economic moves include a slight reduction in mortgage rates for existing homes, as well as reducing the amount of cash reserves commercial banks are required to hold, encouraging banks to lend more.
As reported by several media outlets, Nasser said there is now “a lot of it is happening in China mainly because of the growth in chemical needs. Especially for the transition, for the electric vehicles, for the solar panels, they need more chemicals".
Russia remains China’s biggest oil importation partner, with Saudi Arabia a close second.
Nasser also added that Asia’s energy transition, moving from hydrocarbons to renewables, is slower and more complicated than many had expected, as he called for a change in policy in many Asian nations.
Late last year, Nasser claimed that renewables are not yet able to meet global power demand.
Nasser said at the time: “We are working on a lot of clean energy projects as a company as part of the transition in renewables, e-fuels, hydrogen and all of that. But at the same time, we don’t think – or believe – that renewables are yet ready to shoulder the heavy burden of the global demand we are seeing right now”.
According to environmental charity ClientEarth, Aramco has been responsible for 4% of the planet’s emissions since 1965.
The oil giant announced a 3.4% decline in Q2 profits in early August, due to reduced crude volumes and weaker refining margins.
In the three months ending 30 June, it reported Q2 net income of $29.03bn, exceeding the median estimate of $27.7bn provided by the company from 15 analysts.
The company recorded a net income of $29.1bn in Q2 2024 and $56.3bn in the first half (H1) of the year. Cash flow from operating activities was $31.1bn in Q2 and $64.7bn in H1 while free cash flow amounted to $19bn in Q2 and $41.7bn in H1.
