Aramco rolls with the Covid punches
The Saudi heavyweight posts an eye-watering drop in profits but pays its dividends and remains in the black
State-controlled Saudi Aramco posted financial results for 2020 that illustrate the robustness of its operations, despite giving up—at least for now—its title as the world’s most profitable company to tech giant Apple. And it is already making plans to implement its pandemic-interrupted production growth strategy. During a 22 March earnings call, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser hailed the “flexibility and agility” of his firm in the wake of the “unprecedented” challenges posed by Covid-19. Despite a $39bn year-on-year reduction in net income, Aramco posted a $49bn profit, fulfilled its $75bn dividend obligation to shareholders and ended 2020 with nearly $8bn more cash in the bank than it had at the s

Also in this section
7 February 2025
The history of tin production and prices offers a preview of the future oil market. If correct, $35/bl could become the new normal for crude for several years without further OPEC+ intervention
7 February 2025
Changing oil demand patterns mean different downstream economics amid switch to naphtha, LPG and other petrochemicals
6 February 2025
Policy initiatives will take time to reverse declining output, and restoring investor confidence is far from certain
6 February 2025
This premier event is poised to address the evolving technology and investment demands of North America’s thriving chemical and pharmaceutical sectors