Saudi oil giant Aramco’s third-quarter profits dip to £21.2 billion

Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco reported third-quarter profits of 27.5 billion dollars (£21.2 billion) on Tuesday, down about 15% from last year as low oil prices ate into its revenues.

Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co, had revenues of 111.1 billion dollars (£85.6 billion)over the quarter, the company said in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. It had $113 billion (£87.1 billion) in revenues the same quarter last year.

Profits for the third quarter last year were 32.5 billion dollars (£25.06 billion).

The profit decrease “was mainly due to the impact of lower crude oil prices and weakening refining margins”, Aramco said.

Profit for the first nine months of 2024 was 83.9 billion dollars (£64.7 billion), down from 94.5 billion dollars (£72.8 billion) the year before.

Oil prices have been depressed over recent days as tensions in the Middle East appear to have receded slightly and as China’s economy has slowed. Benchmark Brent crude traded Tuesday at around 75 dollars (£57.80) a barrel.

Aramco will pay dividends of 20.28 billion dollars (£15.63 billion) for the third quarter and a performance-linked dividend of 10.77 billion dollars (£8.3 billion), the company said. It has said it hopes its overall dividend for the year will be more than 124 billion dollars (£95.6 billion).

While a sliver of Aramco trades on the Tadawul, the vast majority is held by Saudi Arabia’s government, fuelling its expenditures and providing wealth to its al Saud royal family. The company also serves as a bellwether for the global oil industry.

Stock in Aramco traded around 7.31 dollars (£5.64) a share on Tuesday, down from a high this year of more than nine dollars (£6.90). It has fallen over the past year as oil prices have dropped.

Aramco has a market value of 1.7 trillion dollars (£1.31 trillion), making it the world’s sixth-most valuable company behind Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet which owns Google, and Amazon.

Aramco reported a 121 billion-dollar (£93.3 billion)annual profit in 2023, down from its 2022 record thanks to lower energy prices.

Saudi Arabia’s vast oil resources, located close to the surface of its desert expanse, make it one of the world’s least expensive places to produce crude.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hopes to use the oil wealth to pivot the kingdom off oil sales, through projects such as his planned 500 billion-dollar (£385 billion) futuristic desert city, called Neom. But lower oil prices have Saudi Arabia reportedly looking at curtailing some of those ambitions as the kingdom likely faces looming budget deficits.

Meanwhile, activists criticised the profits amid global concerns about the burning of fossil fuels accelerating climate change.