Aramco Chief Sees Healthy Oil Market This Year

Amin Nasser, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco, sees oil market fundamentals as stable and likely to remain so for the rest of the year.

Speaking at the Energy Asia conference organized by Malaysia’s Petronas, Nasser noted that China and India remain the main drivers for global oil demand.

"Despite the recession risks in several OECD countries, the economies of developing countries – especially China and India – are driving healthy oil demand growth of more than 2 million barrels per day this year," he said as quoted by Reuters.

Earlier this year, the Aramco chief executive warned the oil market is tight and shortage may be on the way. However, since the start of the year, when he made those comments, inflationary and recessionary fears have combined to push the price of oil down despite the continued danger of supply shortages.

Nasser also noted that China’s petrochemicals and transport sectors were demonstrating robust demand for crude despite certain economic headwinds, per Reuters.

In comments on the energy transition, the Aramco chief called the idea of phasing out hydrocarbons completely in less than 30 years “fanciful”, noting the failure of wind and solar to meet rising global energy demand.

Nasser also suggested some of the low-carbon technologies touted as replacements for oil and gas were a lot more expensive. Green hydrogen, he said, costs between $200 and $400 per barrel, compared to about $75 per barrel of crude oil.

Speaking of demand, OPEC’s secretary-general, who also attended the Energy Asia conference, forecast global demand for oil would increase by 23% between this year and 2045, reaching 110 million barrels per day by that year.

In 2045, oil will account for 29% of global energy supply, Haitham al Ghais also said. This would be a minor decline from the current share of 30.9% of global energy supply that oil holds.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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