Retrieved From: Lexis Nexis
Date: October 30, 2008
Title: Saudi Aramco to Raise Output, Remain in Korean Market
Byline: Kim Yoon-Mi
Length: 410 Words
Link to relevant WorldOilNews blog posting here.
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil production company, is committed to increasing oil production, even though the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries recently said it would cut output due to falling oil prices, the company's executives said.
The 11-member OPEC's announcement on Oct. 20 to cut oil production contradicts Saudi Aramco CEO Abdullah Jumah's recent statement that the state-owned oil company of Saudi Arabia will bolster output capacity from the current 9.4 million barrels per day to 12 million per day by the end of next year.
"How do they reconcile? We take long-term views, not short-term, trying to ensure market stability through reliability of supply during the crisis," Omar Saleh Bazuhair, chief engineer of Engineering Services at Saudi Aramco, said in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul.
"Our program to go to 12 million barrels per day will continue," he said.
Saudi Arabia's overall oil production quantity is determined not by Saudi Aramco but by the government, he added.
Bazuhair and Aramco's public relations department manager Emad M. Al-Dughaither are in Seoul for the company's Asia Business and Culture program.
It is aimed at helping the company's prospective executives expand their understanding of Korean business practices and cultural backgrounds.
Bazuhair said the Korean market is very important for his company because it accounts for about 10 percent of the company's total exports. The Asian market takes about two thirds of Saudi Aramco's exports.
The company became the largest shareholder of local oil refiner S-Oil in 1991 after it purchased a 35 percent stake through its subsidiary Aramco Overseas Company BV.
There have been media reports that global firms operating in Korea as strategic investors might leave the country or reduce their investments in Korean firms, because of the gloomy outlook of the local economy.
Al-Dughaither dismissed any such possibility, saying that Saudi Aramco is strongly committed to the Korean market, as it was during the Asian 1997 financial crisis.
The biggest threat for Saudi Aramco is the decelerating global demand. However, the company is well prepared for the economic downturn, thanks to its extensive experience in the energy sector, Al-Dughaither said.
"We see long-term growth potential. After 75 years of experience in delivering energy, we know that the cycles exist and we know how we weather the cycles," he said.
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