Saudi oil giant Aramco on Tuesday reported a first-quarter net income of $31.9 billion, down by 19% from the first quarter of 2022 as macroeconomic concerns dragged down oil prices between January and March 2023.
The world’s largest crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, is betting big on the growing market for crude China, as Saudi oil giant Aramco is strengthening its downstream presence and crude supply market share in the world’s top importer.
Saudi Aramco plans to build a $10-billion refining and petrochemical complex in China over the next three years, taking advantage of the country’s growing demand for energy.
Saudi oil giant Aramco has announced a record profit of $161.1bn (£134bn) for 2022, helped by soaring energy prices and bigger volumes.
Saudi Arabia is the OPEC member with the greatest spare capacity, at least on paper, and Aramco earlier this year announced plans to boost what it calls Maximum Sustainable Capacity from the current level of 12 million bpd to 13 million bpd by 2027.
Saudi oil giant Aramco has broken its own record with a US $48.4 billion (£29.8bn) profit for the second quarter of 2022.
Saudi Arabian officials on Saturday stressed the need for more upstream investment to resolve oil market pressures, saying that the kingdom would add some oil production capacity but has limits.