The oil company was nonetheless excited about the future: it maintains its $ 75 billion dividend for the year and the company thinks it will return to pre-pandemic oil production levels by 2021.
Saudi Arabia Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Aramco, said in a call with reporters that he is very optimistic about 2021 and he expects the company to reach nearly 99 million barrels per day by the end of the year. He said these prospects are based on the views of various global entities and agencies, and he predicted that demand will increase in 2022.
“The use of vaccines will make the situation much better,” he added.
“As we have felt the enormous impact of Covid-19 in the global economy, we have sharpened our emphasis on capital and operational efficiency,” Nasser said.
The earnings report comes at a time when Saudi Aramco refineries are experiencing drone strikes by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
“Our reliability in 2020 is 99.9% despite Covid-19 and these attacks on various parts of our facilities in the north and south and in Ras Tanura recently,” Nasser said. “It’s even higher than previous years.”
This is a further demonstration of the robust crisis management and continuity plans we have. ‘
CNN’s John Defterios contributed to this report.