Oil company Saudi Aramco is reviewing plans to expand at home and abroad in the face of sharply lower oil prices and a heavy dividend burden, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 2, citing people familiar with the matter.
Aramco will review a $6.6 billion plan to add petrochemical output at its Motiva refinery in Texas, as well as a big natural-gas project with Sempra Energy in the same state, according to the report.
The state-run company is also pausing investments in refineries in China, India and Pakistan, the WSJ said.
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Oil companies globally have been cutting spending across the board to shore up cash as the industry contends with a realization that lower crude prices could be the norm for a long period of time after the COVID-19 pandemic sapped fuel demand.
In Saudi Arabia, Aramco is delaying plans by a year to boost crude production capacity to 13 million bbl/d, from currently about 12 million, the report added.
The company plans to cut its capital spending to between $20 billion and $25 billion this year to pay a $75 billion dividend it pledged to investors during its IPO last year, the Financial Times reported last month.
Aramco did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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