Saudi Aramco boss says oil demand increasing

The boss of the Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco says demand is increasing.

In a news conference, Amin Nasser said he expected total oil demand to grow by 1.2 million barrels a day this year.

"We are seeing increases [in demand] in India, in the US, and we are meeting that call on us," he said.

Oil prices have seen a slight recovery over the past few months of 2016 after falling sharply from the peak that they reached in 2014.

In mid-2014, Brent crude stood at $115 a barrel, falling to below $30 a barrel in January for the first time in 12 years. It is now trading at just under $44 a barrel.

But Mr Nasser still has big plans for Saudi Aramco. He said he planned to grow every part of the business and described the current market as a "great opportunity for significant growth".

He added that he was looking at joint ventures around the world, including in Indonesia, India, the United States, Vietnam and China.

Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter and so was hit hard by the sharp drop in the price.

As a result, it has pledged to change its economy in order to move away from its dependence on oil, with the country's veteran oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, being removed as part of that overhaul.