Aramco doubles down on oil to outlast rivals

The global health crisis has forced oil giants to consider if the fossil fuel market has peaked - and whether the charge towards clean energy is unstoppable.

Crude demand has collapsed this year and, for some, the time has come for a global energy transition.

But Saudi Aramco sees things differently.

The oil giant plans to boost its production capacity so it can pump as much of Saudi Arabia's vast oil reserves when demand picks up.

That's according to industry sources, who said Aramco wants to do this before a shift to cleaner energy makes crude all but worthless.

Aramco has a fifth of the world's reserves and production costs are just $4 a barrel.

Sources say this makes the firm think it can undercut rivals and keep making money, even when lower oil prices make it unprofitable for competitors.

The sources also said Riyadh plans to follow through on an apparent threat it made earlier this year during an oil price war with Russia.

That will see it raise its capacity to 13 million barrels a day from 12 million.

Aramco's approach is in sharp contrast to western rivals.

The likes of BP and Shell plan to cut spending on oil production so they can invest in renewables and green energy as they prepare for a low-carbon world.

Aramco said in a statement that it expected oil demand to keep growing long term due to rising populations and economic growth.

There may also be another reason for Aramco's rush to sell oil.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to develop new industries to reduce the kingdom's dependency on oil.

For the plan to succeed, the royal needs lots of cash - and Aramco is his main source of revenue.