Saudi Aramco reports ‘record’ $ 161 b profit for 2022

RIYADH, AFP: Saudi Aramco said on Sunday it achieved “record” profits totalling $ 161.1 billion last year, drawing an outraged response from activists warning about the ravages of climate change.

The mostly State-owned energy giant, the world’s second most valuable company behind Apple, said in a filing with the Saudi stock market that net income for 2022 was up 46% from $ 110 billion in 2021.

The results – the strongest since Aramco became a listed company in 2019 – were “predominantly due to the impact of higher crude oil prices and volumes sold, and stronger refining margins,” it said.

Global energy prices surged after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“It is shocking for a company to make a profit of more than $ 161 billion in a single year through the sale of fossil fuel – the single largest driver of the climate crisis,” Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard, said in a statement.

“It is all the more shocking because this surplus was amassed during a global cost-of-living crisis and aided by the increase in energy prices resulting from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” 

Amnesty described Aramco’s profits as “the most ever disclosed by a company in a single year” and said they “should be used to fund a human rights-based transition to renewable energy”.

Aramco’s gains are consistent with record profits for 2022 reported by the five oil majors Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and TotalEnergies, which in total surpassed $ 150 billion and would have been closer to $ 200 billion without costly withdrawals from Russia.