Saudi Aramco earnings rise on oil output, prices

Saudi Aramco earnings rise on oil output, prices

Bloomberg

Saudi Aramco’s earnings soared as oil prices and production climbed, allowing the world’s biggest crude producer to cover its quarterly dividend of $18.75 billion with free cash flow. Third-quarter profit rises to 114.1 billion riyals ($30.4 billion) from 44.2 billion riyals year ago, beating a company-compiled estimate of $29.1 billion. Free cash flow was $28.7 billion. Aramco has benefited from the global economic recovery, which has helped push crude prices up by about 65% this year to more than $80 a barrel. That helped Aramco eclipse Apple Inc to once again become the world’s most profitable firm. The state-controlled firm was also helped by higher oil output after Saudi Arabia ended unilateral supply cuts implemented earlier this year as part of an Opec+ deal. The kingdom’s crude production averaged 9.6 million barrels a day between July and September, up from 8.5 million in the second quarter. Aramco shares rises 1.5% to 38.3 riyals before paring gains. The stock has risen almost 9% this year as oil prices recovered from impact of the pandemic, helping the firm’s market capitalisation exceed $2 trillion.

“Some headwinds still exist for the global economy, partly due to supply chain bottlenecks, but we are optimistic that energy