Aramco posts $30bn profits during Q2

Dubai Saudi state-run oil giant Aramco said Monday that it made $30 billion in profit in the second quarter, a nearly 40% decline from the same period the previous year that it attributed to lower oil prices.

Total sales stood at just over 400 billion riyals (about $106 billion), down from 562 billion riyals ($150 billion in the second quarter of 2022. In an earnings report filed with the Saudi stock exchange, Aramco said the decrease “mainly reflected the impact of lower crude oil prices and weakening refining and chemicals margins”.

The company reported net income of 112.8 billion Saudi riyals ($30 billion) compared to 181.6 billion riyals ($48 billion) in the second quarter of 2022, a decline of 37.8% Aramco nevertheless raised its dividend paid out to investors to 110.18 billion riyals ($29.38 billion), compared to $18.8 billion in the second quarter of 2022. The performance-based dividend is partly based on the company's record earnings last year, it said. “Our strong results reflect our resilience and ability to adapt through market cycles," Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement accompanying the report. Last week, Fortune magazine ranked Aramco, officially known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co, the second biggest company in the world by revenue, behind only Walmart and ahead of Amazon and Apple.

The ranking came after the oil company reported a profit of over $160 billion in 2022, the largest ever recorded by a publicly traded firm. Those kinds of earnings will come under heightened scrutiny later this year when the United Arab Emirates, another major oil producer, hosts annual UN climate talks aimed at getting the world to slash emissions and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

Aramco benefited from a spike in oil prices last year caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Internationally traded oil peaked at over $120 a barrel in June 2022 before settling in a range of $75 to $85 for much of the past year. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly cut its oil production in recent months and pressed fellow OPEC members to do the same in an attempt to push up prices in the face of weaker demand from China and rising interest rates aimed at combatting inflation.