Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, reported on Sunday net come of $39.5 billion for the primary quarter of 2022, a jump of about 80 percent from the identical period a yr earlier, largely reflecting higher oil prices.
Oil and natural gas prices have soared in recent months due to tight markets as conditions from the pandemic eased. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, sanctions have reduced Russian oil output and increased worries about potential shortages.
Saudi Aramco is benefiting from the general situation, reaping added profit as energy prices rise. During the last yr oil prices have nearly doubled, with Brent crude at $111 a barrel on Friday, up from about $60 in spring 2021.
Unlike Western counterparts like Shell and Exxon Mobil, which face shareholder demands to handle global warming, the Saudi company is sort of entirely government owned and is under little pressure to cut back output and carbon dioxide emissions.
Actually, Aramco, together with ADNOC, Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, calculates that it may well make the most of the pressure on Western firms.
“Against the backdrop of increased volatility in global markets, we remain focused on helping meet the world’s demand for energy,” Aramco’s chief executive, Amin H. Nasser, said in a press release on Sunday.
“We’re investing for the long run, expanding our oil and gas production capability to satisfy anticipated demand growth,” Mr. Nasser added.
But as gasoline prices have climbed, contributing to rising inflation, Saudi Arabia has largely shrugged off requests from Washington to quicken its program of gradual production increases agreed with OPEC and other oil producers last summer.
The corporate said it might keep its dividend for the quarter unchanged at $18.8 billion. A lot of the money will go to the federal government, which owns just about all the shares of the corporate, which was listed on the Saudi Tadawul exchange in 2019.
As previously announced, Aramco is awarding a bonus share for each 10 shares.
