Saudi Aramco CEO says oil giant can still meet dividend expectations as crown prince prioritizes investments

Saudi Aramco CEO says oil giant can still meet dividend expectations as crown prince prioritizes investments

Oil tanks at an oil processing facility of Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian state-owned oil and gas company, at the Abqaiq oil field.

The chief executive of the world's biggest oil company on Wednesday said he believes the firm will still be able to meet dividend payout expectations after Saudi Arabia's government announced plans to prioritize investments.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday said that state-backed oil giant Saudi Aramco and petrochemical firm SABIC would fund the majority of a 5 trillion riyals ($1.3 trillion) private sector investment plan for economic diversification.

"We are very excited with the government's announcement yesterday of the Shareek program," Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told CNBC's Dan Murphy in an exclusive interview.

"We support this initiative which is very much aligned with Vision 2030. It promotes GDP growth through new investment and will have a multiplier effect for the Saudi economy."

The government's 5 trillion riyals private sector investment plan is part of 12 trillion riyals worth of investments planned by 2030.

The crown prince said, according to Reuters, that the government had asked the biggest participating firms to cut dividends and redirect the cash to new investments. For those owning shares in Saudi Aramco, he reaffirmed