Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal
Ahmed Jadallah | Reuters
Saudi Aramco on Tuesday posted a 0.9% jump in third-quarter profit, beating expectations on the back of higher production even as oil prices remained under pressure.
The world’s largest oil company reported adjusted net income of 104.92 billion Saudi riyals ($27.98 billion) for the quarter, beating analyst expectations of 98.47 billion Saudi riyals, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus.
The results come as Aramco faces a profit squeeze amid weaker oil prices — down over 6% this year until September — except for a short-lived surge in the second quarter triggered by tensions between Israel and Iran.
Year-to-date, spot prices of the U.S. West Texas Intermediate are down over 16%, data from FactSet showed. Similarly, the global benchmark Brent is down over 12%.
“We increased production with minimal incremental cost, and reliably supplied the oil, gas and associated products our customers depend on, driving strong financial performance and quarterly earnings growth,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said.
Some other third-quarter highlights included:
- Third-quarter revenue came in at 418.16 billion Saudi riyals, beating analyst estimates of 411.26 billion Saudi riyals.
- Net debt stood at 114.33 billion Saudi riyals in the third quarter, down from 115.59 billion Saudi riyals three months earlier.
Aramco reported a free cash flow of $23.6 billion compared with $22 billion a year earlier. The board also declared the 2025 base dividend of $21.1 billion and performance-linked dividend of $0.2 billion to be paid in the fourth quarter.
Over the weekend, OPEC+ announced a modest increase in oil production for December and decided to halt further hikes during the first quarter of next year. The cartel members agreed to raise their December production target by 137,000 barrels per day, matching the hike for October and November.
Since April, OPEC+ has raised its output targets by approximately 2.9 million barrels per day but began easing the pace of these increases in October over expectations of a market glut.
Adding to the complexity, new Western sanctions on Russia, a key OPEC+ member, are posing difficulties for the group’s production strategy, as Moscow faces limits in boosting output after the U.S. imposed additional restrictions on the country’s major oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil.
Aramco recently completed its acquisition of a 22.5% stake in Petro Rabigh, Reuters reported, from Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical for $701.8 million, bringing the Saudi company’s total ownership to roughly 60%.
The oil giant also recently acquired a minority stake in artificial intelligence company HUMAIN, which is majority owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Nasser added that the company’s stake in HUMAIN is expected to further drive innovation and progress its role in the “crucial and rapidly evolving AI sector.”