Oil giant Saudi Aramco has profits of $161B in 2022

Oil giant Saudi Aramco says it earned a $161 billion profit last year

Oil giant Saudi Aramco said on March 12 it earned a $161 billion profit last year, attributing its earnings to higher crude oil prices.

The firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said in its annual report that the profit represented “its highest annual profits as a listed company."

“Given that we anticipate oil and gas will remain essential for the foreseeable future, the risks of underinvestment in our industry are real — including contributing to higher energy prices," Saudi Aramco CEO and President Amin H. Nasser said in a statement.

Mr. Nasser said Aramco would spend $37.6 billion to expand its production capacity.

Aramco also declared a dividend of $19.5 billion for the fourth quarter of 2022, to be paid in the first quarter of this year.

In 2021, Aramco declared profits of $110 billion, as compared to $49 billion in 2020 when the world faced the worst of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, travel disruptions and oil prices briefly going negative.

Benchmark Brent crude oil now trades around $82 a barrel, though prices had reached over $120 a barrel back in June. Aramco, whose fortunes hinge on global energy prices, announced a record $42.4 billion profit in the third quarter of 2022 off the back of that price spike.