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  • US-based CarbonCapture raises $80 mln from Saudi Aramco, others

    Los Angeles-based CarbonCapture, which aims to build machines that suck carbon dioxide out of the air to fight climate change, said it had raised $80 million from investors that include Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco (2223.SE), opens new tab. The money raised in CarbonCapture's latest major funding round represents one of the largest injections of private capital into direct air capture (DAC) – a technology that has yet to be proven at scale - over the last five years, according industry tracker PitchBook.

  • Aramco Equity Transfer Helps the Public Investment Fund, Hurts Saudi Government Budget

    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced March 7 that a further 8% of Saudi Aramco’s equity has been transferred to the Public Investment Fund. The PIF now holds 16% of Aramco’s equity and the government 82.2%, with the remainder held publicly following the company’s 2019 initial public offering. This latest equity transfer is no surprise given the ambitious target that has been set for growing the PIF’s assets under management. With the equity transfer valued at around 615 billion riyals ($164 billion), the PIF’s assets under management are now likely in excess of 3.3 trillion riyals ($890 billion) and rapidly closing in on the 2025 target of 4 trillion riyals ($1.1 trillion).

  • Saudi Aramco’s $100 Billion Payout Has Investors Grappling for Answers

    Saudi Aramco paid out nearly $100 billion in dividends last year, taking it close to the total cash returns of the five biggest Western supermajors put together. This year, it’s promising even more. The vast majority of that goes to the Saudi government and helps fund Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s expensive plans to diversify the economy from oil. But the potential for higher payouts also may attract investors as the company prepares a follow-on share sale that would raise about $20 billion.

  • Is Saudi Aramco cooling on crude oil? Don’t bet on it

    Has Saudi Arabia stopped believing in a bright future for petroleum? That is the question that in recent weeks has hung over Saudi Aramco. The desert kingdom’s national oil goliath has a central position in the world’s oil markets. Its market value of $2trn, five times that of the second-biggest oil firm, ExxonMobil, and its rich valuation relative to profits are predicated in large part on its bountiful reserves of crude and its peerless ability to tap them cheaply and, as oil goes, cleanly (see chart 1). So Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry stunned many industry-watchers in January by suspending the firm’s long-trumpeted and costly plans for expanding oil-production capacity from 12m to 13m barrels per day (b/d). Was it proof that even the kingpin of oil had finally accepted that oil demand would soon peak and then begin to decline?

  • US-based CarbonCapture raises $80 mln from Saudi Aramco, others

    Los Angeles-based CarbonCapture, which aims to build machines that suck carbon dioxide out of the air to fight climate change, said it had raised $80 million from investors that include Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco (2223.SE), opens new tab. The money raised in CarbonCapture's latest major funding round represents one of the largest injections of private capital into direct air capture (DAC) – a technology that has yet to be proven at scale - over the last five years, according industry tracker PitchBook. "This is exactly what has to happen - this alignment with large industrial partners who have the capacity, the access to capital, the skills to actually scale DAC to a meaningful level," CarbonCapture CEO Adrian Corless said in an interview with Reuters.

  • Saudi Aramco raises 2030 gas target as capex growth to slow on oil

    Saudi Arabia's energy giant Saudi Aramco raised its target for increased natural gas production on March 10 and lowered its capital expenditure forecast for crude oil after being ordered to halt work on expanding oil production capacity.

  • Saudi Wealth Fund Eyes $20 Billion Windfall from Aramco Dividend

    Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is set to earn about $5 billion in dividend payments every quarter from its stake in Aramco after the government handed it more shares in the state-controlled oil company, which then said it would boost shareholder payouts. The hike in Aramco’s dividend, which is set to total at least $124 billion this year, comes days after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the transfer of an 8% stake in Aramco to the Public Investment Fund.

  • Saudi Aramco reports second-highest net income of $121.3bn in 2023

    In 2023, Aramco reported a net income of $121.3 billion, a decrease from $161.1 billion in 2022, marking the company’s second-highest net income to date. The year-on-year decline is attributable to lower crude oil prices and volumes sold, along with reduced refining and chemical margins. This decrease was partially offset by a reduction in production royalties, as well as lower income taxes and zakat during the year.

  • Aramco seeks more investment opportunities in China, sees healthy oil market in 2024: CEO

    On an earnings call, Nasser added that the global oil market is expected to remain healthy for the rest of the year and increase by roughly 1.5 million barrels, according to Reuters.   The CEO also predicted that global oil demand will reach 104 million barrels per day in 2024, up from an average of 102.4 million barrels in 2023.   Aramco, he added, is targeting a 60% boost in gas production by 2023, compared to 2021 levels.

  • Saudi Aramco boosts dividends despite profit fall

    Saudi Aramco has reported a steep decline in profits, after the energy giant cut production and oil prices fell sharply in 2023.

    Its profits fell 25% to $121bn (£91bn) profits after a record-smashing year in 2022.

    But the figure is still the second-highest profit ever for the state-backed company.

    The firm said it was boosting its payments to shareholders and looking for opportunities to invest in China.