Latest News

Saudi Aramco maintains $31 bln dividend in spite of lower Q1 net income

Saudi Arabian stateowned oil huge Aramco expects to pay $31 billion in dividends to the Saudi federal government and its investors regardless of reporting lower earnings for the first quarter on Tuesday, hit by lower oil costs and volumes offered.

The Saudi government, which straight holds about 82.2% of Aramco, relies heavily on the business's payouts, which likewise consist of royalties and taxes.

The kingdom, the world's greatest oil exporter, is investing billions of dollars to diversify its economy far from crude.

Aramco reported a 14% decrease in first-quarter net income to $ 27.3 billion in the three months to March 31, in line with expert estimates and below $31.9 billion a year previously, according to a company incomes statement.

The company declared base dividend payments for the first quarter amounting to $20.3 billion and a performance-linked dividend circulation of $10.8 billion to be paid in the second quarter.

It said it anticipates overall dividends of $124.3 billion to be declared in 2024, of those $43.1 billion in performance-linked dividends.

OPEC+ has actually carried out a series of output cuts because late 2022 amidst increasing output from the United States and other non-member producers, and concerns over need as significant economies grapple with high rate of interest.

Brent crude has averaged around $83.50 so far in 2024, while Saudi Arabia requires oil at $96.2 to stabilize its 2024 budget, the IMF forecasts. With a forecasted budget deficit of 79 billion riyals ($ 21.07 billion) this year, the kingdom could postpone parts of its several mega tasks.

Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said recently that the kingdom's Vision 2030 strategy to change its economy will be changed as required, with some projects being downsized or extended and others sped up amidst a tough environment.

The kingdom could also raise as much as 138 billion riyals ($ 36.80 billion) in financing in 2024, from $23 billion at first estimated at the start of year.

The Saudi federal government in late January ordered Aramco to ditch its expansion strategy to improve production capacity to 13 million barrels a day (mbpd), going back to the previous 12 mbpd target.

2 tasks that were part of the growth strategy - Safaniyah and Manifa - are now on hold, while 3 others are continuous.

On Tuesday Aramco stated Marjan and Berri were expected to come onstream in 2025 adding 300,000 barrels per day and 250,000 bpd respectively while Zuluf was on track to add 600,000 bpd by 2026.

Maximum production capacity will be enhanced to preserve it within the 12 million bpd target regardless of ongoing projects.

Saudi Arabia is poised to offer more shares of energy giant Aramco, 3 people familiar with the matter told in February, and has actually lined up Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and HSBC for the sale, according to among the sources.