The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) has announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2020, highlighting the company’s financial and operational strength, despite market volatility and the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy
Commenting on the results, Aramco president and CEO Amin H Nasser said, “We saw early signs of a recovery in the third quarter due to improved economic activity, despite the headwinds facing global energy markets. Meanwhile, we maintained our commitment to shareholder value by declaring a dividend of $18.75bn for the third quarter.
“Aramco’s integration with SABIC is proceeding as planned. 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. 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.”
Demonstrated strength and resilience across economic cycles
Aramco continues to demonstrate its strength and resilience across economic cycles, navigating challenging market conditions to record net income of US$11.8bn and free cash flow of US$12.4bn in the third quarter of 2020. Aramco declared a dividend of US$18.75bn for the quarter.
According to Aramco, the total hydrocarbon production for the first nine months of 2020 was 12.4 mmbbl per day of oil equivalent, of which 9.2 mmbbl per day was crude oil. Aramco has achieved a record historic single-day natural gas production of 10.7 bscfd on 6 August 2020 from both conventional and unconventional fields.
Successful exploration activities resulted in two successful unconventional field discoveries in the third quarter, both in the northern part of the Kingdom; one field with both oil and gas reservoirs and another field with a gas reservoir.
The Company’s Khurais oil facility was recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a leader in the adoption and integration of cutting-edge technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), including artificial intelligence and industrial robotics. Khurais became Aramco’s second facility to join WEF’s Global Lighthouse Network – a select group of just 54 facilities worldwide that have shown leadership in 4IR technologies.
The Downstream business continues to focus on enhancing integration and creating growth opportunities across the hydrocarbon value chain. Following the successful close of the SABIC transaction, the third quarter of 2020 marks the first full quarter in which SABIC’s financials are incorporated into Aramco’s Downstream results. Integration with SABIC continues to progress and drives forward the Downstream strategy of creating value through integration across the hydrocarbon value chain.
COVID-19 update
Aramco remains committed to the safety of its people, establishing protocols to monitor and limit the spread of COVID-19 including medical support and monetary donations.
The Company launched a “Device Donation Initiative” to help thousands of students’ access virtual schooling. It donated thousands of new devices for underprivileged students and encouraged employees to donate used computers to support the campaign.
