State oil giant Saudi Aramco was faced with the biggest crisis in a century owing to the pandemic, but it sharpened the focus on resilience, which gave the company the agility to respond quickly, said its President & CEO Amin H. Nasser.

He was discussing the economic and industry trends, as well as the energy transition, during a virtual CERAWeek panel held under the topic 'Charting an Era of Recovery.'

Michael Wirth, CEO of Chevron, also participated in the panel and the discussion was moderated by Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of IHS Markit.

On the impact of Covid-19, Nasser said: "It had exposed 'harsh realities' to the world. There has been a huge impact on small and medium sized businesses, and more so on employment,” he stated.

"My big worry over the long term is a jobless recovery, when certain jobs are not going to return," he added.

When asked about the situation on the oil markets, Nasser expressed optimism: "China and East Asia are seeing strong demand. India is also picking up to pre-pandemic levels."

"There is an impact in the West and the US, but with the rapid deployment of vaccines we are seeing good cause for optimismm," he added.

Nasser also discussed the energy transition and noted that ESG has always been a “big part” of Aramco’s strategy.

"Our Master Gas System was built in the 1970s and by eliminating flaring, the system alone has removed 100 million tonnes of CO2 every year since then," explained Nasser. Looking ahead, Nasser emphasized the “huge potential” for hydrogen.-TradeArabia News Service