Saudi Aramco has announced its intention to boost crude output by an estimated 1 million barrels of oil per day (mmbbl/d) to a total of 13 mmbbl/d, despite the company’s recent cuts in capital expenditure (Capex), according to Reuters.

 Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco said, “We are proceeding with increasing our maximum sustainable capacity (MSC) from 12 to 13 million barrels … it should not have a major impact on capital in 2021.”

This decision comes despite Saudi Aramco’s 73% fall in Q2 profits, which will have the knock on effect of reducing Capex in 2020 to $25 to $30 billion. This is a significant decrease from the company’s proposed spending of $40 to $45 billion.  

Furthermore, Aramco’s gearing ratio was 20.1% at the end of June, which can be attributed to the deferred consideration for the acquisition of SABIC.

Gearing is the ratio between the company’s debt and its market value.