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Saudi Aramco declared a drop in profits from the first quarter, which resulted in a reduction of $ 10 billion to its dividend and a drop in a fundamental source for the budget for Saudi Arabia in the middle of an uncertain perspective for oil prices.
The world’s largest net profit in the world has dropped 5% from the previous year to $ 26 billion. Its average oil price was $ 76.30 a barrel, compared to $ 83 in a barrel in the same quarter last year.
While the performance was better than that of some of its peers, notably BP and Shell, whose profits from the first quarter were half half and fell 28%respectively, Aramco reduced its total dividend to $ 21.4 billion out of $ 31 billion in the last quarter of last year.
The group had already announced in March that its total payment this year would be around $ 85 billion, which is much lower than 124 billion dollars it paid in 2024.
The lower payments of Aramco dividends will add pressure on the budget of Saudi Arabia as a state -owned and linked to the state such as the public investment fund spend billions of dollars to diversify the economy far from its dependence on oil income.
The economic diversification program launched by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman presents several so-called ambitious gigaprojects, including a futuristic area on the northwest coast of the country called Neom.
The kingdom’s deficit widened to $ 15.6 billion in the first quarter, compared to $ 3.3 billion in the same period in 2024 that oil revenues dropped by 18%, the Ministry of Finance announced on Monday.
Amin Nasser, president and chief executive officer of Aramco, said: “The global trade dynamics affected the energy markets in the first quarter of 2025, with an economic uncertainty affecting oil prices.”
Since the end of the quarter, petroleum prices have dropped by an additional 15%, at around $ 64 per barrel, after the American commercial prices and fears of an excess offer after OPEC +, the oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia, a production strongly increased for the year.
Aramco did not give any indication of the question of whether it should adjust its dividend more or reduce its expenses, but noted that “disciplined planning and execution” were vital during periods of oil price volatility.
Riyadh already recalibrates his expenses by reducing certain projects and extending others over a longer period.
But the country faces a set of intimidating deadlines to build infrastructure before organizing a series of major events, including the 2030 Expo and the FIFA World Cup in 2034.
The government of the government and the main heritage fund of Saudi Arabia, the PIF, has more than 97% of Aramco together.
Despite the drop in oil prices, Saudi Arabia and other members of the OPEC + coalition advance production increases.
At the beginning of this month, eight OPEC +members, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, said they would increase the offer by 411,000 barrels per day in June, the second consecutive monthly increase.
Jorge León, at the Rystad energy council, said that it was at the time a decision of “bomb” reflecting a change in strategy of the group.
