Aramco's executive claims that oil demand may increase if the tariff dispute is resolved

Aramco, the Saudi oil giant and a cash cow of the kingdom for many years, is expecting oil demand to be resilient this year. It also expects further upsides if the U.S.-China trade dispute is successfully resolved.

Washington and Beijing agreed earlier Monday to temporarily reduce reciprocal tariffs, a deal which exceeded expectations. The two world's largest economies are seeking to end the damaging trade war, which has raised fears of a recession and rattled financial markets.

Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco, said that the company expects demand to remain steady and grow compared to the year 2024. If the tariff issue is resolved... this will also add to the additional demand from the market.

Aramco, world's largest oil exporter, announced a 4.6% decline in its first-quarter profits on Sunday, due to lower sales, and higher operating expenses as the crude markets were hit by economic uncertainty.

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in recent decades to diversify its economic base beyond oil, as part of Vision 2030.

Sources told The National in November that with the oil price falling and costs increasing, the more ambitious projects of the Kingdom, such as a futuristic city planned in the desert, were scaled back in order to complete the infrastructure required for international sporting events.

In late April, a survey of 40 economists & analysts conducted by surveyed projected Brent crude would average $68.98 per barrel in 2025. This is down from the estimate of $72.94 in March.

Sources told us earlier this month that the OPEC+ producers would increase their oil production and bring as much as 2.2 millions barrels of crude per day back onto the market by November.

In April, the group surprised the markets by agreeing on a higher-than-expected increase in output for May despite low prices and a slowing of demand.

Saudi Aramco estimated that the extra production could potentially add $1.9 billion to annual operating cash flows.

Executives said that the company's growth has been resilient in the second quarter 2025, despite tariffs and uncertainty on the market.

Nasser stated that it was too early to determine the full impact of trade talks, due to their complexity. However, he added that Aramco's healthy financial position, and its flexibility in capital, have helped to put Aramco in a good position. Reporting by Hadeel al Sayegh in Dubai and Manya Saini; Editing and production by Toby Chopra, Susan Fenton

(source: Reuters)