Lower oil prices over the first quarter of the year weakened Aramco’s net profit, with the Saudi giant booking a net result of $26 billion, down from $27.3 billion a year earlier. Despite the weaker figures, the company decided to distribute a higher dividend for the quarter.
While lower than a year ago, the net result was higher than what analysts expected, which was net earnings of $25.36 billion, per a Reuters poll. Dividend for the first quarter was set at $21.1 billion, up by 4.2% on the year and payable during the second quarter. The amount, however, was unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2024.
Speaking of dividends, at the end of last year, which also brought financial pain to the Saudi state oil giant, the company said it was going to reduce dividend distributions this year, by a sizable 30%, to a total of $85.4 billion.
Brent crude has shed some $11 per barrel since the start of the year, most recently trading at around $64 per barrel. This is substantially lower than what Saudi Arabia needs to balance its budget in view of ambitious public spending programs. This would have to change, and soon, if prices stay this low. In the meantime, Aramco is signaling business as usual.
“Global trade dynamics affected energy markets in the first quarter of 2025, with economic uncertainty impacting oil prices,” chief executive Amin Nasser acknowledged in comments on the company’s first-quarter results. “Such periods also highlight the importance of disciplined capital planning and execution while we continue to take a long-term view,” Nasser said.
The executive noted Aramco’s openness to business diversification, especially in natural gas and low-carbon energy plus carbon capture. The company is also expanding in hydrogen, with the acquisition of a 50% in a local blue hydrogen company to scale up its output of natural gas-derived hydrogen.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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