Oil supply crunch likely if mega projects are sidelined: Aramco CEO

Saudi Aramco chief executive officer Amin Nasser has warned of an "oil supply crunch" as big energy companies focus on US shale and other short-term efforts over investing in long-term mega-projects, Financial Times reported on Monday.

“Something like shale oil …it is not going to really create a major dent in total global supply requirements up until 2040,” he said, adding that rising investment into short-cycle output would not be enough to meet rising crude demand.

On the issue of Aramco's listing, Nasser said the launch of the IPO was a "sovereign decision and Riyadh had yet to determine whether it would take place."

In May, Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said that Aramco IPO was most likely in 2019. The Kingdom is planning to sell a 5 percent stake in Aramco to raise $100 billion, as it looks to diversify its economy through privatization and fiscal reforms. 

Talking on Saudi Arabia's stance to increase oil production following US President Donald Trump's call, Nasser admitted that the Kingdom could not be relied upon alone to keep the oil market in check over the long term. 

“Everybody needs to do his share… we will contribute, but how much we will contribute?” he said, stating there were enough supplies to meet global demand and counter the depleting output at existing fields.

The Kingdom has agreed to increase output by 1 million barrels per day (mpd) from May levels with energy analysts expecting domestic output could reach a record 11 mpd, the newspaper said.