April 10, 2020 [Zawya – Published on April 9, 2020] – State-owned oil operator Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest hydrocarbon company, will net around 277 billion Saudi riyals ($74 billion) in 2020, a local investment firm has said.

 
But the profits are expected to rebound by nearly 31 percent to about 363 billion riyals ($96.8 billion) in 2021 after an expected improvement in crude prices, Al-Rajhi Capital company said in a report published on Wednesday.

It said the decline in net earnings in 2020 would be a result of lower oil prices despite Aramco’s decision to boost output to more than 11 million barrels per day (bpd).

Aramco’s net income stood at around $88.2 billion in 2019 and as high as $111.1 billion in 2028, according to the firm.

In a recent report, Aramco said weak crude prices would prompt it to cut capital spending to between $25 billion and $30 billion for 2020 compared to $32.8 billion in 2019. At the same time, the company recently announced plans to increase production capacity by a million barrels a day to 13 million bpd.

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