Aramco Stock: Saudi Aramco more than doubled earnings in 2021

The surplus rose to 110 billion US dollars (99.5 billion euros) in 2021 after 49 billion in the previous year, as the Saudi industry giant announced on Sunday. For 2021, a total of $75 billion is to be paid out as a cash dividend, which, contrary to analysts’ expectations, is not an increase. However, bonus shares are to be issued to shareholders, one new share for every 10 held. The biggest beneficiary of the dividend is Saudi Arabia, which, according to data from the Bloomberg news agency, held around 94 percent of the shares before the bonus papers were issued.

Like its peers such as BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell, Aramco benefited from last year’s global economic recovery, which boosted demand for oil and, in turn, the price. In the past few weeks, oil prices have skyrocketed further because of the Russian war against Ukraine and the associated sanctions against Russia, an important oil producing country. A barrel of North Sea Brent was traded at a good 139 dollars at the top and was thus as expensive as it was last time in 2008.

In this market environment, Saudi Aramco now wants to invest more money in production. Overall, management calculates capital expenditures of around 40 to 50 billion dollars for 2022, after these had already risen by around a fifth to almost 32 billion dollars in 2021. Expenditure is expected to continue to rise until the middle of the decade. By 2027, the production capacity for crude oil is also set to increase from 12 to 13 million barrels per day (159 liters).

The shares of the Saudi company rose on Sunday on the Riyadh stock exchange by around three percent to 43.10 Saudi riyals. Most recently, the rise in oil prices due to the war in Ukraine had given them a fresh impetus. Since mid-February alone, they have gained around 15 percent so far. At the top it even went up to 46 riyals.

/mis

Riyadh (dpa-AFX)

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