Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco announced a record profit of $161.1 billion for 2022, representing a remarkable 46.5% increase from the previous year. The surge in profits was mainly attributed to soaring energy prices and an increase in oil production volumes. This profit boost is consistent with other major energy firms such as ExxonMobil and Shell, which have also reported record profits due to high energy prices.
To share the gains, Aramco declared a dividend of $19.5 billion for the last quarter of 2022, which will mostly be paid to the Saudi government which owns almost 95% of the company’s shares. However, Aramco is also facing criticism for being a significant emitter of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. As a response, Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser stated that the company plans to invest in new lower-carbon technologies, in addition to expanding oil, gas, and chemicals production.
In another development, Iran announced that its oil exports have reached their highest level since the re-imposition of US sanctions in 2018, due to increased shipments to China and Venezuela. The US sanctions, economic mismanagement, and corruption have hampered Iran’s economy, with no substantive growth in the past decade, and it is still smaller by 4-8% than in 2010 by some estimates.
