Robert Besser
14 Mar 2023, 22:45 GMT+10
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Oil giant Saudi Aramco has announced 2022 earnings totaling $161 billion, the highest-ever annual profit by a publicly listed company, which immediately drew criticism from activists.
The record profit was due to rising energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and subsequent sanctions that limited the sale of Russian oil and natural gas to Western countries.
As China is re-entering the global market after the end of its coronavirus restrictions, Aramco also plans to increase production to take advantage of market demand.
However, high energy prices have driven global inflation and strained relations between Riyadh and Washington.
In a statement, Saudi Aramco CEO and President Amin H. Nasser said, "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."
Compared to its 2021 profits of $110 billion, Saudi Aramco's profits rose 46.5 percent in 2022.
Aramco also declared a dividend of $19.5 billion for the fourth quarter of 2022, which will be paid in the first quarter of 2023.
Aramco's results mirror the 2022 profits announced by other energy giants, such as BP, Exxon Mobil and Shell, but the Saudi company's $161 billion profit overshadowed its own previous results.
Like China and Russia, Saudi Arabia has pledged to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, but it has not confirmed how it will reach that goal.
Get a daily dose of Afghanistan Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Afghanistan Sun.
More InformationTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras: In what could signal the end of his country's decades-long relations with Taiwan, Honduran foreign minister Eduardo Enrique ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: A new US Congressional committee focusing on China held its second hearing on the alleged abuses of the ...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: A new round of extreme winter weather that hit California, also drifted into neighboring Southwest states, with ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: After several high-profile near collision incidents, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a safety alerts to ...
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Two Cambodian opposition figures--- Yim Sinorn and Hun Kosal--- have been charged under the country's rarely used ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Supreme Court has ruled that a deaf student in Michigan can sue his public school district, ...
KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghanistan's education ministry has announced that the country's school year has begun, but the United Nations children's agency, ...
Sharjah [UAE], March 27 (ANI): Pakistan stand-in skipper and all-rounder Shadab Khan believes plenty of positives will come from his ...
Kabul [Afghanistan], March 27 (ANI): Despite recent diplomatic efforts, the relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban is expected to face ...
Islamabad - Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Monday that a suicide bomb blast outside the foreign ministry in the capital, ...
Islamabad - Witnesses and doctors in Afghanistan said a bomb explosion outside the foreign ministry in the capital, Kabul, had ...
Kabul [Afghanistan], March 27 (ANI): At least two persons were killed and 12 others have been injured in a heavy ...