Saudi Aramco CEO: "Very optimistic" about PETROCHINA demand

As the risk of escalation in the Middle East conflict increases, the market's expectations for global oil demand are not optimistic. At this time, Saudi Aramco has chosen to "go against the trend" and increase production, attributing "most of it to China". On October 21st, Amin Nasser, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, stated during the Singapore International Energy Week conference that he sees an increase in demand for aviation fuel and naphtha, especially in the conversion of liquid feedstock into chemical products. He mentioned that he holds a "fairly optimistic" attitude towards the oil demand in the Chinese market: "There is growth in Chinese chemical demand, especially during the transformation period, for electric vehicles, solar panels... they need more chemical materials. So there is tremendous growth potential there." China is the world's largest crude oil importer and the second-largest oil consumer, as well as the largest crude oil customer of Saudi Aramco. Nasser stated that Saudi Aramco plans to increase its capacity to convert liquid feedstock into chemical products to 4 million barrels per day, with most of the incremental volume attributed to the huge demand in the Chinese market. He emphasized, "China is a huge market, and we are investing with partners... The aviation fuel demand in China is a 'bright spot'." He also mentioned that his company has increased investments in China, and as living standards rise, oil demand will increase in southern countries globally over the next few decades. Currently, most analysts believe that even if global oil demand growth stops at some point, total demand is not expected to sharply decline, and there may be a long period of stagnation after this stage. Nasser mentioned, "If that's the case, by 2050, in fact, over 100 million barrels of oil will still be needed every day." This sharply contrasts with the views predicting oil demand to drop to 25 million barrels per day by then. He warned that a shortage of 75 million barrels per day would have a catastrophic impact on energy security and affordability. It is worth noting that the International Energy Agency (IEA) wrote in a recent report that due to the arrival of the "electricity era", oil demand may decline at the end of this decade. However, analysts believe that the actual situation may not be so: "Fossil fuels, especially natural gas, will continue to power the global economy for the next few decades."