World oil demand could rise at a reasonable pace following the recovery of the global economy, Saudi Aramco CEO Khalid al-Falih has told the Financial Times.
The Aramco CEO was quoted by the English newspaper as saying world oil demand could rise by 1 million barrels per day from 2010 and beyond.
Al-Falih also claimed that gas will be a focus of Saudi Aramco in the future. “The big story today is gas,” he said. The CEO added that the in order to keep up with gas consumption in Saudi Arabia, which is growing at 7% a year, Aramco will be drilling “kingdom wide”.
Exploration will also continue in the Empty Quarter, where international companies have been awarded contracts, although no discoveries have been made yet.
“We have not given up on Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter), it’s more challenging than we were hoping for, but that’s the nature of exploration,” said Al-Falih.
