Covid-19 had exposed “harsh realities” for the world, in particular its huge impact on small and medium-sized businesses, and more so on employment, Amin Nasser said.
Nasser’s remarks came during a virtual CERAWeek panel, moderated by Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit, and with the participation of Michael Wirth, CEO of Chevron.
“We were faced with the biggest crisis in a century, but our industry is used to challenging situations. We sharpened our focus on resilience, which gave us the agility to respond quickly,” Nasser was quoted as saying in a company statement.
“My big worry over the long term is a jobless recovery when certain jobs are not going to return,” he said.
In response to a question on the position of oil markets, Nasser expressed optimism and said that “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 optimism.”
(Anadolu Agency, March 3, 2021)