Sharply lower oil prices and falling oil revenues prompted even state-owned Saudi Aramco to reassess its spending plans and chase cost savings last year. But the firm continues to invest upstream and downstream, as it aims to become the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals producer. “We responded to the unsettled business climate on numerous fronts, optimising capital expenditure (capex), deferring low-priority projects and lowering our direct controllable costs, without diminishing our determination to deliver on our strategic vision,” Aramco says in its Annual Review 2015. The company was able to take advantage of lower materials costs and renegotiated service contracts, although it does not quantify the subsequent savings.
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