Saudi Aramco hits $161bn profit in 2022, a record high

Aramco, the largest oil company in Saudi Arabia, has announced a record profit of $161.1 billion (£134 billion) for 2022, aided by rising energy prices and higher volumes.

In comparison to last year, it marks a 46.5 percent increase for the state-owned business.

With the surge in energy costs brought on by Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it is the most recent energy company to announce record earnings.

ExxonMobil in the US made $55.7 billion, and Shell in the UK made $39.9 billion.

Aramco also announced a $19.5 billion dividend for the October to December 2022 quarter, which will be paid in the first three months of this year.

The Saudi government, which holds the majority of the company’s shares—nearly 95%—will receive the majority of that.
The benchmark oil price, Brent crude, currently trades at about $82 per barrel, while prices in March, following Russia’s invasion, and June exceeded $120 per barrel.

“Aramco rode the wave of high energy prices in 2022,” said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. “It would have been difficult for Aramco not to perform strongly in 2022.”

Aramco said in a statement on Sunday that greater margins for refined goods, larger sales volumes, and stronger crude oil prices had all contributed to the company’s success.

“Given that we think oil and gas to remain crucial for the foreseeable future, the consequences of underinvestment in our business are substantial, including contributing to higher energy costs,” said Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Aramco.

He said that in order to meet those difficulties, the firm would not only concentrate on raising the production of oil, gas, and chemicals, but it would also make investments in new low-carbon technologies.

Aramco, the second-most valuable business in the world only after Apple in the United States, is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

“It is astounding for a business to make a profit of more than $161 billion in a single year from the selling of fossil fuel,” said Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, in response to Aramco’s revelation. “Fossil fuel is the single largest driver of the climate disaster.”

That is even more alarming, she continued, because this surplus was built up during a global crisis in the cost of living and helped by the rise in energy costs brought on by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Within the Opec oil cartel, Saudi Arabia is the top producer (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).