Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco reported a $106.25 billion profit in 2024 on Tuesday, down 12% from the prior year on lower energy prices.
A filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange showed the oil company, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., had revenues of $436 billion in 2024.
Aramco reported a $121 billion annual profit in 2023, down from its 2022 record due to lower energy prices as well.
“The decrease was primarily driven by lower revenue and other income related to sales, higher operating costs, as well as lower finance and other income,” Aramco said in its filing.
Stock in Aramco traded around $7.33 a share Tuesday, down from a high over the last year of $8.71. It has fallen over the past year as oil prices have dropped. Benchmark Brent crude is at $73 — down 10% this year.
Aramco has a market value of $1.74 trillion, making it the world’s sixth-most valuable company behind Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Amazon and Alphabet, which owns Google.
Aramco will pay dividends of $21.36 billion for the fourth quarter, which includes a far-smaller performance dividend of $220 million. The company expects to pay dividends of $85.4 billion this year, which is far lower.
“Our strong net income and increased base dividend illustrate Aramco’s exceptional resilience,” Aramco CEO and President Amin H. Nasser said in a statement.
The Aramco results come as OPEC+, an alliance of the oil cartel and other energy-producing states, met online Monday and agreed to proceed with an increase in oil production starting in April. It’s the first oil production increase by the group since 2022 and likely will push down oil prices further.
The OPEC+ decision follows criticism by President Donald Trump of the cartel.
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. For every $10 rise in the price of a barrel of oil, Saudi Arabia stands to make an additional $40 billion a year, according to the Institute of International Finance.
But lower energy prices have chewed into the kingdom’s revenues, affecting plans by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to build his $500 billion futuristic city of NEOM. Saudi Arabia also will host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which will require the kingdom to build stadiums and other infrastructure.
The Saudi government owns the vast majority of the firm’s shares. Saudi Aramco publicly listed a sliver of its worth back in late 2019 and has weighed offering more shares publicly.
