A spectacular flight. The oil giant Aramco announced this Sunday profits up 46% in 2022 to reach 161.1 billion dollars once morest 110 billion in 2021. Results driven by the rise in the price of oil, in particular linked to the war in Ukraine and European sanctions on Russia and gas which have led to strong demand for oil. Other oil groups such as Schell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies have all made record profits this year. Benefits strongly criticized by environmental defense associations, who say they are all the more “shocked” that « this surplus was amassed in the midst of a global cost of living crisis aggravated by rising energy prices”. According to Amnesty International, this money should be used to finance the energy transition.
Three times more profit than Exxon
Aramco’s revenue realized in 2022 is almost three times higher than that of the American Exxon. The Saudi oil company declared a dividend of $19.5 billion for the fourth quarter, an increase of 4% from the previous three months. Free cash flow stood at $148.5 billion at the end of 2022, compared to $107.5 billion a year earlier.
The group’s goal is to reach production of 13 million barrels per day by 2027. Currently, Aramco produces 10.5 million barrels per day.
Aramco invests in Renault
The Saudi oil company has, for its part, announced that it wants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 by continuing to finance the fossil industry. An objective that seems difficult to achieve according to the associations, but this net zero does not take into account the emissions produced by oil consumers. The company announced an increase in investment in new projects by 18% to 37.6 billion dollars.
Among these projects, the manufacture of synthetic fuels. Aramco has thus declared that it wants to invest in Renault’s thermal sector called “Horse” in order to bring its expertise to this very strategic segment of the automotive market. Indeed, last week, Germany threatened to block the bill to end sales of thermal cars by 2035 in the European Union if synthetic fuels were not taken into account. For the time being, no figures have been disclosed as to the share that the oil giant will take in the capital of “Horse”.
Oil makes Saudi Arabia richer
The group’s profits have strongly fueled Saudi GDP growth, which increased by 8.7% in 2022, the highest figure of the G20 countries. THE cabinet director Khalij Economics underlined Aramco’s central role in the Arab world’s largest economy despite the oil company’s desire to diversify in order to reduce its dependence on oil.
In 2019, Aramco succeeded hands down his bet to raise 25 billion dollars and obtain a valuation of 1.700 billion dollars is the largest IPO in history. After a battle with the tech giant, Apple, for the first place in terms of market valuation, Aramco flew away this year dethroning the American giant.
