ECONOMY
Saudi Aramco CEO expects only short-term coronavirus impact on oil demand
Baku, February 25, AZERTAC
Saudi Aramco CEO expects only short-term coronavirus impact on oil demand and is confident that oil demand will improve in H2 2020, particularly in China. The Saudi Aramco boss, Chief Executive Amin Nasser, expects the coronavirus impact on oil demand to be short-lived and for consumption to rise in the second half of the year, he told Reuters on Monday.
"We think this is short term and I am confident that in the second half of the year there is going to be an improvement on the demand side, especially from China," he said.
"I do not think it is going to have a long-term impact."
Nasser said that Aramco, the world's biggest oil-producing company, has not evacuated its staff from China and that its key marketing staff have stayed to manage the company's business in the Asian nation. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's de-facto leader, has held talks with other OPEC members and Russia to discuss potential deeper oil supply cuts to counter the impact on crude prices. But Russia has yet to announce its final position on the proposal. OPEC and allies are due to meet over March 5-6 to decide on production policy.