Saudi Aramco reported a 44.6% drop in its Q3 net profit, as oil demand remained low due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company made $11.79 billion in net profit during the quarter.
“We saw early signs of a recovery in the third quarter due to improved economic activity, despite the headwinds facing global energy markets,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said. He noted that the company would distribute a dividend of $18.75 billion, in line with its commitment to pay a base dividend of $75 billion for 2020.
Thinner refining and petrochemicals margins also hit the company’s net profit. It is growing its downstream portfolio to become an integrated oil and gas company.
“Aramco’s integration with SABIC is proceeding as planned,” Nasser said. “Our resilience is supported by our unique scale, low upstream carbon intensity and low production costs. As the global economic and social landscape evolves, these strengths and our continued drive to lower GHG emissions mean we are well positioned to support the energy needs of the global economic recovery.”
“We continue to adopt a disciplined and flexible approach to capital allocation in the face of market volatility,” he added. “We are confident in Aramco’s ability to manage through these challenging times and deliver on our objectives.”
“We are making progress on multiple fronts, including the world’s first blue ammonia shipment for zero-carbon power generation in Japan – further strengthening our focus on new and innovative solutions that contribute to the global energy transition.”
