MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco plans to cut its capital spending to a range of USD20 billion to USD25 billion this year to pay a USD75 billion dividend it pledged to investors during its initial public offering last year, reported Reuters with reference to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter.
The report here says the new level of capital spending is largely dedicated to the state-owned group's exploration and production business and will hold for the next three years.
Spending has been cut across the board to shore up cash as the oil industry contends with a realization that lower crude prices could be the norm for a long period of time after the coronavirus pandemic sapped fuel demand.
Aramco had said on Sunday it expected capital expenditure for 2020 to be at the lower end of the original USD25 billion to USD30 billion range and the company posted a 73% plunge in second quarter profits.
As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Aramco is continuing with plans to increase its maximum sustained capacity to 13 million b/d from 12 million b/d, despite the market downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, said the company's President and CEO Amin Nasser. The capacity hike, which was first announced in March, will not have a significant impact on the oil giant's capex commitments for 2021, as it will be gradually expanded over a period of years, said Nasser, on a call to analysts and investors following the company's Q2 results announcement Aug. 9. The expansion follows Aramco hitting a new maximum production rate of 12.1 million b/d in April.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national oil and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco"s value has been estimated at up to USD10 trillion in the Financial Times, making it the world"s most valuable company. Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.
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