Saudi Aramco second-quarter profit dips amid lower production volumes

Saudi state oil giant Aramco reported $29.1 billion in net profit for the second quarter, a dip of just over 3% from the same period last year as crude production volumes remained low.

Aramco reaffirmed its second-quarter base dividend of $20.3 billion, and declared a performance-linked dividend of $10.8 billion to be paid in the third quarter.

Saudi Arabia had an output of 8.99 million barrels per day in the second quarter, according to a July OPEC report citing secondary sources.

“We have delivered market-leading performance once again, with strong earnings and cash flows in the first half of the year,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in the company’s press statement.

“Leveraging these strong earnings, we continued to deliver a base dividend that is sustainable and progressive, and a performance-linked dividend that shares the upside with our shareholders.”

Many forecasters expected the oil company’s revenue to be largely flat. Analysts at Riyadh-based brokerage firm Al Rajhi Capital wrote in a July 22 report that they “anticipate Saudi Aramco’s Q2 2024 revenue to be almost flat year-on-year, owing to lower production volumes almost offset by higher Brent prices compared to Q2 2023.”

The kingdom’s gross domestic product growth has contracted for four consecutive quarters, which economists say is largely due to the oil production cuts. The overall decline in the second quarter was led by an 8.5% drop in Saudi Arabia’s oil sector, the country’s General Authority for Statistics reported.

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