Saudi Aramco has recorded a quarter two of 2023 income of $30.08 billion, resulting in a 37.9% decline compared with the same period last year 2022.
Despite the decrease in global crude oil prices, the oil and gas giant, which is backed by the Saudi Government, attributed its profits to low-cost upstream production and strategically integrated downstream operations.
Aramco, meanwhile disclosed that a base dividend of $19.5 billion for the first quarter was paid during the April-June quarter, and the second-quarter dividend of $19.5bn will be paid in the third quarter.
The company plans to pay out around $9.9bn as a performance-linked dividend. In the second quarter, Aramco produced 13.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day of total hydrocarbons.
As part of efforts to increase capacity, upstream oil and gas developments at Marjan, Berri, Dammam and Zuluf are on track, the company said.
Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser said, “For our shareholders, we intend to start distributing our first performance-linked dividend in the third quarter. At Aramco, our mid-to-long-term view remains unchanged”.
“We are maintaining the largest capital spending programme in our history, with the aim of increasing our oil and gas production capacity and expanding our downstream business, with petrochemicals projects, such as our $11bn expansion of the SATORP refinery with TotalEnergies, essential to meet future demand.”
Amin Nasser
Aramco Plans to Invest Further In China
Meanwhile, Aramco disclosed plans to invest further in China. Saudi Aramco and its Chinese partners aimed to start full operations at a refinery and petrochemical project in northeast China in 2026 to meet the country’s growing demand for fuel and petrochemicals, the state-owned major said on Sunday.
The project in Liaoning province’s city of Panjin, expected to cost $10 billion, will be Aramco’s second major refining-petrochemical investment in China.
Joint venture Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO) will build and operate the complex that will house a 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil refinery and a cracker with annual production capacity of 1.65 million tonnes of ethylene and 2 million tonnes of paraxylene, Aramco said in a statement.
Construction at the complex will start in the second quarter after the project secures the required administrative approvals, Aramco said. The plant is expected to be fully operational by 2026, it added. Aramco will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil as feedstock for the plant.
State-owned NORINCO Group, a Chinese military equipment maker, owns 51% of HAPCO while Aramco and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group hold stakes of 30% and 19%, respectively.
Separately, Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding with the southern Chinese province of Guangdong to explore cooperation in sectors including energy, finance, research and innovations.
Guangdong, China’s largest provincial economy, has drawn global firms like Exxon Mobil and BASF each building large-scale petrochemical complexes producing high-value chemicals.
This year, Aramco plans to spend between $45bn and $55bn to boost domestic oil and gas production and diversify downstream activities overseas.
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