Mohammed al-Qahtani, senior vice-president for upstream operations, said Aramco expected to operate between 211 and 214 oil and gas drilling rigs this year.
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He was a supervisor at an oilfield before rising through a series of management roles to become president of Saudi Aramco in 1983 and oil minister 12 years later.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil, has been hard hit by a recent slump in world energy prices.
An oil industry source, speaking shortly before Falih issued his statement, said he did not expect any change in Saudi oil policy under the new setup.
Saudi Arabia ousted its long-serving oil minister Ali al-Naimi over the weekend and replaced him with Khalid al-Falih, the chairman of Aramco. The lost capacity is equivalent to around one third of the country’s oil sands production, which contributed to a significant tightening of markets.
The Supreme Council overseeing the national oil giant is headed by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is spearheading the kingdom’s economic reform drive and has said a stake of up to 5 percent of the company will be sold.
But the retirement of Ali al-Naimi, the minister who has been the face of OPEC, may force the group to start afresh the talks on capping oil output with nonmember countries such as Russian Federation, a prospect that fuels concern among market observers.
Saudi Arabia has been responsible for some of the excess crude oil on the world market, refusing to cut its production even as the United States has produced more of the oil it needs through use of fracking technology to tap underground oil deposits that previously were unreachable.
But many saw the minister’s authority fading quickly.
“The appointment of Falih has been expected for some time”, said Saddad al-Hosseini, a Saudi energy consultant.
A dramatic fall in global oil prices since 2014 has put pressure on producer finances and prompted Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, to reconsider lavish state subsidy programs.
But they have stabilized around $45 a barrel despite Saudi Arabia’s move to block a planned production freeze by OPEC and other producers.
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These volumes are meant as a signal not just to Iran, but to Saudi Arabia’s other main rivals-the U.S. and Russia-that it is not only not prepared to cede market share, but that it intends to take more. The program includes stock listing of Saudi Aramco to raise the company’s value beyond $2 trillion as well as earning investment returns via sovereign wealth funds.
