Amin H Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco
Aramco’s upstream comes into focus
Saudi heavyweight must achieve ambitious government pledge despite revenues feeling the squeeze
The Saudi energy ministry’s directive for state-owned Saudi Aramco to increase its maximum sustainable capacity (MSC) by 1mn bl/d to 13mn bl/d will be a challenge for the company given financial pressures and competing upstream priorities. The immediate trigger for the directive, issued on 11 March, was the price war launched just days earlier when Opec+ talks failed to prolong production cuts. The economic backdrop was further weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic. Aramco did not disclose a timeframe for bringing the additional capacity online or say where it would come from. But the company began by digging into existing spare capacity and inventories to raise output by roughly 2.5mn bl/d to
Also in this section
23 March 2026
A complex and sometimes contradictory web of factors that include unpredictable oil prices, the globalisation of LNG markets, the expansion of Middle Eastern sovereign capital and the growth of datacentre demand will shape the energy landscape beyond 2026
23 March 2026
The Strait of Hormuz crisis highlights how key waterways can become global chokepoints
20 March 2026
Attacks on key oil and LNG assets across the Gulf mean a prolonged supply disruption, with damage to Qatar’s export capacity undermining confidence in the global gas system
20 March 2026
The US may be systemically stripping Russia of key geopolitical allies, but Moscow can reap rewards from the Hormuz crisis, both in the short and long term
