Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported Sunday earning $161 billion last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists. The monster profit by the firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., came off the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, with sanctions limiting the sale of Moscow’s oil and natural gas in Western markets.
Saudi Aramco, the oil giant, has announced on Sunday that it earned a record-breaking profit of $161 billion in 2022, surpassing the previous highest annual profit ever reported by a publicly listed company. The company's remarkable financial achievement was attributed to the surge in energy prices following Russia's aggression towards Ukraine in February 2022. As a result, Western markets imposed sanctions on Moscow's oil and natural gas, leading to a limitation in its sale. However, Saudi Aramco's profit announcement has been met with criticism from activists, who question the environmental impact of the oil industry and the role of big corporations in global warming.
Aramco has plans to increase its production to take advantage of market demand, raising the billions needed to pay for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans to develop futuristic cityscapes to pivot Saudi Arabia away from oil. Aramco put its crude production at around 11.5 million barrels a day in 2022 and said it hoped to reach 13 million barrels a day by 2027.
Given that we anticipate oil and gas will remain essential for the foreseeable future, the risks of underinvestment in our industry are real including contributing to higher energy prices," Saudi Aramco CEO and President Amin H. Nasser said in a statement.
Those high prices have further strained ties between the kingdom and the United States, traditionally a security guarantor among the Gulf Arab states amid tensions with Iran.
Before the midterm elections in November, the kingdom said the Biden administration sought to delay a decision by OPEC and allies including Russia to cut production that could have kept gasoline prices lower for voters making public the typically behind-the-scenes negotiations common in the region.
President Joe Biden had warned the kingdom that there's going to be some consequences for what they've done in terms of oil prices.
However, those consequences have yet to be seen as Saudi Arabia and Iran went to China to strike a diplomatic deal Friday.
