(Adds BP comment on investment plans)
By Summer Said and Sarah Kent
ABU DHABI--Major oil producers BP PLC (BP) and state-owned Saudi
Arabian Oil Co. are set to continue with their substantial
investment plans, despite the recent slump in oil prices, senior
officials from the two companies said Monday.
Oil prices have fallen more than 25% since June to just above
$80 per barrel amid ample supply and slowing global demand growth,
raising a big question mark over the profitability of some
projects.
"We have only sanctioned or approved projects based on an $80 [a
barrel] oil price," BP's Chief Executive Robert Dudley said during
an energy conference in Abu Dhabi. "We've been doing that for three
or four years so there isn't any project that we're working on
today, particularly those big capital projects, that we have any
different view of."
Saudi Aramco's upstream vice president Amin Nasser said the
company intends to maintain its plans to invest $40 billion a year
over the next 5 years.
"I am confident that the long-term demand fundamentals remain
robust, and our industry must remain focused on meeting this
long-term demand," Mr. Nasser said.
Saudi Arabia--the largest oil producer within the Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries--has historically acted as a
swing producer, cutting its output to prop up prices. However, it
also enjoys some of the lowest production costs in the industry and
presently appears more interested in protecting its own market
share than balancing the market.
-Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com and Sarah Kent at
sarah.kent@wsj.com
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