It was a steep fall from last year’s record profit, but still enough for the company to introduce additional dividend payments and increase capital investment.
The News
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest energy company, on Monday reported a nearly 40 percent drop in profit for the second quarter, compared with a year ago, when high oil prices produced record earnings.
Despite the smaller profit, Aramco still made a lot of money: $30 billion for the April-June period, far more than the profits generated by other oil giants (Exxon Mobil made $7.9 billion and Shell $5 billion).The Numbers: Profits that rise and fall with oil prices.
Major energy companies have been reporting reduced profits, largely because the price of oil has fallen since last year. In the second quarter, Aramco said, the average oil price was just under $79 a barrel, down from about $113 in the same period a year ago. Oil prices jumped after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and have slowly eased since then.
Despite the reduced earnings, Aramco reported a 12 percent increase in capital expenditures, to $10.5 billion, a category of spending that reflects investment in its business.Notable: A bigger payout for shareholders.
