Saudi Aramco announced that it would not reduce its new investment in oil and gas production capacity despite the financial strain caused by low oil prices, reported Reuters. Aramco’s Chairman, Khalid al-Falih, explained that the company had been able to cut costs enough to maintain the current levels of investment. He said that Saudi Arabia could survive a low oil price for “a long, long time,” wrote Trade Arabia.

Aramco Head also revealed that no final decision had been made on selling shares in the company, nor whether the stakes sold will be in downstream ventures  only, or will include the upstream sector as well. The objective of the Aramco IPO sale was not to generate cash for the Saudi government, but to promote the Saudi private sector, Al-Falih insisted, according to Trade Arabia.

He added that global oil supply and demand will eventually balance at a “moderate” price, without elaborating on when this would occur or what figure counted as a fair price.