Aramco CEO Amin Nasser at this year’s CERAWeek by S&P Global
Aramco keeps on spending
As cash-strapped Western governments commit to substantially raising defence expenditure, a similar dynamic is playing out in Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas sector, as Saudi Aramco maintains it heavy capex push despite reduced revenues
State energy company Saudi Aramco recorded a 12% drop in net income in 2024, to $106b, amid lower prices and production. With its finances feeling the pinch of global headwinds, the company announced on 4 March that its performance-related dividend in Q1 2025 would be slashed to $200m, from $10.8b the previous quarter. But despite the straitened financial circumstances, Aramco is sticking to its expansive capex programme, which last year accounted for 9% of the world’s total upstream spending. The reduced oil income may have hit the Saudi budget hard, but capex growth looks resilient. The IEA noted upstream spending last year of $50b was 35% higher than Aramco’s 2018–22 levels. Aramco itse
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
