Saudi Aramco announced that its net income was $46.9 billion for the first half 2019, compared to $53.0 billion for the same period last year.
That easily outstripped corporate titans such as Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and other big oil producers, many of which suffered larger declines in profit as output and crude prices fell.
Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin H. Nasser, said: “Despite lower oil prices during the first half of 2019, we continued to deliver solid earnings and strong free cash flow underpinned by our consistent operational performance, cost management and fiscal discipline."
Disclosing its financial results for the first time, as part of its $12 billion debut international bond issuance, marked a significant milestone in Saudi Aramco’s history.
"We demonstrated our reliability with near 100% delivery on our customers’ requirements for oil and refined products, maintaining our total hydrocarbon production of 13.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and an average daily crude production of 10 million barrels per day," Nasser added.
"Leveraging our strength in Upstream, we continued to deliver on our Downstream growth strategy, including acquisitions in both Saudi Arabia and key international markets. These acquisitions are expected to enhance dedicated crude placement, increase refining and chemicals capacity, capture value from integration and diversify our operations," he said.
