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Aramco Spends $12 Bil on SMEs Yearly

Aramco Spends $12 Bil on SMEs Yearly
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Aramco Spends $12 Bil on SMEs Yearly

Aramco Spends $12 Bil on SMEs Yearly

Aramco has been spending $12 billion every year on more than 4,000 SMEs (small and medium enterprises) either directly or through its supply chain through Total Value Add Program (iktva).

Aramco’s iktva is a landmark initiative that catalyses localisation in the energy and energy-related industries, leveraging the economic role of SMEs and increasing their contribution to the GDP, and adds thousands of quality job opportunities, according to VP for Procurement & Supply Chain Management at Saudi Aramco Abdulaziz al-Abdulkarim.

This is being mainly done by Aramco to highlight the importance of creating an ecosystem that enables SMEs to flourish and grow in order to achieve a sustainable economic development in the kingdom, stated the VP.

Through iktva, Aramco plans to deliver a world-class, locally-sourced supply chain in the Kingdom, with an overarching objective of achieving 70 percent of locally supplied content by 2021, he added.

He indicated that this is in line with the goals and objectives of Vision 2030 that aspires to raise the contribution of local content in industry and to foster the economic role of SMEs as engines for innovation and sustainability.

Currently, SMEs contribute around 20 percent of the Kingdom’s gross domestic product. Saudi Vision 2030 has set an initial target to increase that share to 35 percent.

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Business

Oil Prices Steady as Markets Weigh Demand against US Inventories

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
TT
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Oil Prices Steady as Markets Weigh Demand against US Inventories

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as investors weighed firm winter fuel demand expectations against large US fuel inventories and macroeconomic concerns.

Brent crude futures were down 3 cents at $76.13 a barrel by 1003 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures dipped 10 cents to $73.22.

Both benchmarks fell more than 1% on Wednesday as a stronger dollar and a bigger than expected rise in US fuel stockpiles pressured prices.

"The oil market is still grappling with opposite forces - seasonal demand to support the bulls and macro data that supports a stronger US dollar in the medium term ... that can put a ceiling to prevent the bulls from advancing further," said OANDA senior market analyst Kelvin Wong.

JPMorgan analysts expect oil demand for January to expand by 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) year on year to 101.4 million bpd, primarily driven by increased use of heating fuels in the Northern Hemisphere.

"Global oil demand is expected to remain strong throughout January, fuelled by colder than normal winter conditions that are boosting heating fuel consumption, as well as an earlier onset of travel activities in China for the Lunar New Year holidays," the analysts said.

The market structure in Brent futures is also indicating that traders are becoming more concerned about supply tightening at the same time demand is increasing.

The premium of the front-month Brent contract over the six-month contract reached its widest since August on Wednesday. A widening of this backwardation, when futures for prompt delivery are higher than for later delivery, typically indicates that supply is declining or demand is increasing.

Nevertheless, official Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed rising gasoline and distillates stockpiles in the United States last week.

The dollar strengthened further on Thursday, underpinned by rising Treasury yields ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's entrance into the White House on Jan. 20.

Looking ahead, WTI crude oil is expected to oscillate within a range of $67.55 to $77.95 into February as the market awaits more clarity on Trump's administration policies and fresh fiscal stimulus measures out of China, OANDA's Wong said.