Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal
Ahmed Jadala | Reuters
Saudi Aramco on Tuesday posted a 0.9% rise in third-quarter profit, beating expectations on higher production despite oil prices remaining under pressure.
The world’s largest oil company reported adjusted net profit of 104.92 billion Saudi riyals ($27.98 billion) for the quarter, beating analysts’ expectations of 98.47 billion Saudi riyals, according to a consensus compiled by LSEG.
The results come as Aramco faces profit pressure amid weak oil prices (down more than 6% this year through September, except for a temporary spike in the second quarter caused by tensions between Israel and Iran).
Spot prices for U.S. West Texas Intermediate have fallen more than 16% since the beginning of the year, according to FactSet data. Similarly, Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, is down more than 12%.
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said: “We expanded production at minimal incremental costs, ensuring the supply of oil, gas and related products our customers depend on, and driving strong financial performance and quarterly profit growth.”
Other third quarter highlights include:
Revenue for the third quarter was SAR 418.16 billion, higher than analysts’ expectations of SAR 411.26 billion. Net debt for the third quarter was SAR 114.33 billion, down from SAR 115.59 billion three months ago.
Aramco reported free cash flow of $23.6 billion, compared with $22 billion in the same period last year. The Board of Directors also announced a 2025 base dividend of $21.1 billion and a performance-based dividend of $200 million to be paid in the fourth quarter.
Last weekend, OPEC+ announced a modest increase in oil production for December and decided to halt further interest rate hikes in the first quarter of next year. Cartel members agreed to raise production targets for December by 137,000 barrels per day, matching increases in October and November.
Since April, OPEC+ has raised its production target by about 2.9 million barrels per day, but began easing the pace of increases in October on expectations of market oversupply.
New Western sanctions against Russia, a major OPEC+ member, are adding to the complexity as the country faces limits to production increases after the United States imposed additional restrictions on the country’s major oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil.
According to Reuters, Aramco recently completed the acquisition of a 22.5% stake in Petro Rabigh from Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical for $701.8 million, taking the Saudi company’s total ownership to about 60%.
The oil giant also recently acquired a minority stake in the artificial intelligence company HUMAIN, which is majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Nasser added that the company’s investment in HUMAIN is expected to further spur innovation and advance its role in the “important and rapidly evolving field of AI.”
