Oil giant Saudi Aramco sees 2019 profits drop 20% to 88.2 Billion Dollars
India TV NewsOil giant Saudi Aramco said Sunday its profits dropped 20% in 2019 to $88.2 billion, a sharp decline coming as the kingdom stands ready to flood an already-weakened global energy market amid the new coronavirus pandemic. The announcement by the firm formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. did not address the kingdom’s plans to crank up production to record levels after a meeting earlier this month between OPEC and Russia failed to see nations agree to a production cut. “Through a variety of circumstances – some planned and some not – the world was offered unprecedented insight into Saudi Aramco’s agility and resilience.” The publicly released figures mark a new turn for the firm, which previously was a private company owned directly by the Al Saud ruling family that didn’t need to announce results. Also expected in 2020 is Saudi Aramco closing its $69.1 billion purchase of a 70% stake of the petrochemical company SABIC from the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund.