Saudi Aramco may renegotiate terms of new projects
State oil giant Saudi Aramco said it may renegotiate the terms of projects that have yet to be granted as the world's
top oil exporter grapples with falling global demand for energy resources.
Turmoil in world credit markets and tumbling crude oil prices have prompted energy companies around the world to
reconsider more expensive projects or cut back on spending to preserve liquidity.
Aramco is examining "more flexible, innovative new strategies to reduce financial risk in projects management", it
said in a statement issued after a meeting with representatives of Saudi and foreign contractors.
The meeting, it said, aimed "at shedding the light on the company's plans towards recalculating the costs of
prospective projects after the decline in prices of material and costs".
Aramco plans 144 projects until 2014, including eight "giant projects", it said without fixing a timetable for the
execution of projects.
Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf told in November the kingdom planned to invest $ 100 bn in the oil sector until
2014.
