The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) has announced that its net income for the first half of 2019 slipped to US$46.9bn, a nearly 12-per cent decrease y-o-y
Saudi Aramco said its net income for the same period of last year was US$53bn, attributing this year’s decline to the lower oil prices.
Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser, said, “Despite lower oil prices during the first half of 2019, we continued to deliver solid earnings and strong free cash flow underpinned by our consistent operational performance, cost management and fiscal discipline.”
It’s the first time that the Saudi company has released its half-year financial results, which Nasser described as a significant milestone in Saudi Aramco’s history.
He added that the company demonstrated reliability with near 100 per cent delivery on customers’ requirements for oil and refined products, maintaining total hydrocarbon production of 13.2mn boepd and an average daily crude production of 10 mmbbl per day.
“Leveraging our strength in upstream, we continued to deliver on our downstream growth strategy, including acquisitions in both Saudi Arabia and key international markets. These acquisitions are expected to enhance dedicated crude placement, increase refining and chemicals capacity, capture value from integration and diversify our operations,” he noted.
“We also signed an agreement to acquire a 70 per cent equity stake in SABIC, which is among the world’s top petrochemicals companies by revenues. This is a major step in accelerating growth in downstream through refining and petrochemicals integration, maximising the profitability from every molecule we produce,” Nasser explained.
“We grew our trading business and scaled up innovation efforts through pioneering initiatives such as crude-to-chemicals, non-metallic materials manufacturing, and hydrogen fuels. Environmental and safety performance is at the forefront of the way we operate. We are particularly proud of the fact that for the first time we announce our upstream carbon intensity, which is amongst the lowest globally,” he stated.
“Looking ahead, we will maintain a prudent and flexible balance sheet. Our financials are strong, and we will continue to invest for future growth,” Nasser concluded.
