However, the oil company was optimistic about the future: it kept its $ 75 billion dividend for the year and the company believes it will return to pre-pandemic oil production levels in late 2021.
Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser said in a call with reporters that he is very optimistic about 2021 and expects the company to reach about 99 million barrels a day by the end of the year. He said that perspective is based on the opinions of different global entities and agencies and predicted that demand will increase in 2022.
“The implantation of the vaccine will make the situation much better,” he added.
“As the huge impact of Covid-19 has been felt across the global economy, we have intensified our strong emphasis on operational and capital efficiency,” said Nasser.
The earnings report comes at a time when Saudi Aramco’s refineries are facing drone attacks by Yemen-backed Houthi rebels from Iran.
“Our reliability in 2020, despite Covid-19 and these attacks on different parts of our facilities in the north and south and in Ras Tanura, has recently been 99.9%,” said Nasser. “It is even greater than in previous years.”
It is yet another demonstration of the robust crisis management and continuity plans we have. “
– John Defterios from CNN contributed to this report.