DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil giant Saudi Aramco on Tuesday reported a $42.4 billion profit in the third quarter of this year, a 39% bump buoyed by the higher global energy prices that have filled the kingdom’s coffers but helped fuel inflation worldwide.
The oil firm’s profits will help fund the kingdom’s assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans for a futuristic city on the Red Sea coast, but also comes as the U.S. grows increasingly frustrated by higher prices at the pump chewing into American consumer’s wallets.
Those tensions yet again have chilled relations between Riyadh and Washington before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
In a note to investors, the predominantly state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
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said its average barrel of crude sold for $101.70 in the third quarter — up from $72.80 at the same point last year. It’s Aramco’s second-largest quarterly profit in its history, just before its second-quarter results this year saw a profit of $48.4 billion.
It put its profits so far in 2022 at $130.3 billion, compared to $77.6 billion in 2021. It made $30.4 billion in the third quarter last year.
“While global crude oil prices during this period were affected by continued economic uncertainty, our long-term view is that oil demand will continue to grow for the rest of the decade given the world’s need for more affordable and reliable energy,” Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser said in a statement.
Aramco will keep its dividend this quarter at $18.8 billion, the world’s highest.
Benchmark Brent crude traded just shy of $95 a barrel Tuesday. The sliver of Aramco that the kingdom has put on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock market stood at $9.29 a share before trading Tuesday — putting its valuation at just over $2 trillion. Only Apple’s valuation, at $2.44 trillion, is higher.
Saudi Arabia’s vast oil resources, located close to the surface of its desert expanse, make it one of the world’s cheapest places to produce crude. For every $10 rise in the price of a barrel of oil, Saudi Arabia stands to make an additional $40 billion a year, according to the Institute of International Finance.
