Saudi Aramco is operating 212 oil and gas rigs in the kingdom and has not decided to either raise or lower that figure, according to a senior executive.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a Bahrain conference, Nasser Amin, senior vice-president for upstream operations at Aramco, said that any rise or decline would depend on requirements.

The news follows a MEED report in February that revealed Aramco was asking rig providers for discounts of up to 25 per cent.

Despite shrinking oil prices, Aramco has maintained high production of about 9.6 million barrels a day (b/d) to sustain its market share. This means the rig count in the kingdom is not expected to fall by much in 2015, with experts predicting maybe two or three rigs maximum. However, cashflow is also being managed carefully across all of the oil major’s operations.