However, the oil company has been optimistic about the future: it has maintained a $ 75 billion dividend for that year, and the company believes it will return to pre-pandemic oil production levels by the end of 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 nearly 99 million barrels a day by the end of the year. He said that this perspective is based on the views of different global entities and agencies and predicted that demand will increase in 2022.
“Using the vaccine will improve the situation,” he added.
“Because the enormous impact of Covid-19 has been felt throughout the global economy, we have intensified our strong emphasis on capital and operational efficiency,” Nasser said.
The earnings report comes at a time when Saudi Aramco refineries are facing drone strikes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“Our reliability in 2020, despite Covid-19 and these attacks on various parts of our facilities in the north and south and Ras Tanura, has been 99.9% lately,” Nasser said. “It’s even bigger than in previous years.”
It is an additional demonstration of the robust crisis management and continuity plans we have. “
– CNN’s John Defterios contributed to this report.