Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Jun 02, 2025

Saudi Aramco profit slumps 44% after Covid-battered year, but maintains dividend

Saudi Aramco profit slumps 44% after Covid-battered year, but maintains dividend

Saudi Aramco also said it expects to cut capital expenditure in the year ahead, and lowered its guidance for spending.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported a 44% slump in full-year 2020 results, but maintained its $75 billion dollar dividend payout, with CEO Amin Nasser describing the last twelve months as one of the most “challenging years” in recent history.

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s behemoth state oil firm, reported net income of $49 billion in 2020, down from $88.19 billion in 2019. The result was slightly below analysts expectations of $48.1 billion but still represents the highest of any public company globally.

“In one of the most challenging years in recent history, Aramco demonstrated its unique value proposition through its considerable financial and operational agility,” Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser said in company statement Sunday.

Aramco said revenues were impacted by lower crude oil prices and volumes sold, and weakened refining and chemicals margins.

The firm also said it expects to cut capital expenditure in the year ahead, and lowered its guidance for spending to around $35 billion from a range of $40 billion to $45 billion previously.

Free cash flow slumped almost 40% to $49 billion, well below the level of its hotly anticipated dividend. Aramco also declared a payout of $75 billion for 2020, despite concern that it would take on additional debt to maintain it.

“Looking ahead, our long-term strategy to optimize our oil and gas portfolio is on track and, as the macro environment improves, we are seeing a pick-up in demand in Asia and also positive signs elsewhere,” he added.

Shares in the top western oil and gas companies including Royal Dutch Shell and BP dropped to multi-year lows in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic wrecked havoc across the global economy and sparked a historic collapse in the price of oil. Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. energy company, posted its first annual loss.

Escalating attacks on oil facilities


Aramco’s facilities have been the target of several attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels — attacks that have escalated this year, with Saudi Arabia and Iran, the latter of whom backs the rebels, on opposing sides of Yemen’s bloody civil war.

Houthi missile volleys in parts of Saudi Arabia that struck Aramco facilities earlier in March briefly sent the price of oil above $70 a barrel to its highest level in more than a year. Most recently, the rebels claimed responsibility for drone strikes on an Aramco facility in the capital Riyadh on Friday, causing a fire that the Saudi energy ministry said was quickly brought under control with no casualties.

Asked how the company aimed to reassure investors and the global community that its infrastructure was well-protected and prepared to prevent serious disruption to its operations, CEO Amin Nasser stressed that there was “no impact on business” from the attacks.

“I think the most important thing is the readiness of our people,” Nasser told CNBC during a press conference following the earnings release. “There is always something you learn with each attack, and you go and you enhance your emergency response … and you make sure you have all what is needed to restore these facilities if they are attacked.”

“We have learned a lot, we have been able to demonstrate with a reliability of 99.9% that we are capable, under any scenario, to put the facility back onstream and ensure the safety and security of our people and at the same time ensure that the supplies to our customer is met,” Nasser added.

“The attack on Riyadh is a good demonstration, within hours of putting out the fires and finishing the investigation, we started putting the facility (back) on,” he said. “Today the Riyadh refinery started to come onstream. So it is a demonstration of the capability and the contingency plan and the emergency response of first responders.”


Nasser also expressed his optimism for the oil demand outlook in 2021.

“We have seen improvement on prices, with pickup on demand, much better recovery. China is also very close to pre-pandemic levels,” the CEO said.

“With more deployment of the vaccines we will see more demand pickup so we are very optimistic about 2021 in terms of growth in demand, especially in the second half, and we can see the prices so far responding to what we are seeing in the market, we are looking forward to a much better year in 2021.”

International benchmark Brent crude is at $64.53 a barrel, up about 25% year-to-date and up a whopping 73% from one year ago.

Several oil analysts have upped their price forecasts for the 2021 on vaccine and demand confidence, with Goldman Sachs predicting a rise to $80 per barrel by the third quarter of this year — something unimaginable when WTI prices went negative for the first time in history roughly one year ago.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
×