“China is a great market, we are investing with our partners,” Amin H. Nasser, CEO and President of Saudi Aramco, reiterated at a recent conference, highlighting his company’s focus on China’s oil market.
Speaking at the Singapore International Energy Week, Nasser reaffirmed Aramco’s commitment to increasing its liquids-to-chemicals capacity to 4 million barrels a day, with a focus on the Chinese market.
However, other market analysts have suggested that China’s oil demand may have peaked or will soon decline, as the country accelerates its shift to electric passenger vehicles and adopts liquefied natural gas for commercial trucks.
Despite this, Aramco predicts global oil demand will remain above 100 million barrels per day through 2050, with this year’s consumption expected to reach 104.5 million barrels — surpassing the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) estimate of 102.8 million barrels. This outlook contrasts with the IEA’s recent statement that demand for all fossil fuels will plateau and cease growing within this decade as the world transitions into the “Age of Electricity.”
“Most analysts agree that even when the growth in global oil demand stops at some point, no abrupt drop in overall demand is anticipated, and that stage is likely to be followed by a long plateau,” he said. “Rather than an energy transition, we are really talking about energy addition.”
