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  • Aramco dividend vital to big-spending Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Aramco’s 2024 full-year results due this week are likely to again underline the importance of the world’s largest listed oil company to big-spending Saudi Arabia’s economic development plans. Aramco has said it expects to announce fourth-quarter dividends – payouts to the Saudi government are a core source of state revenue – of SAR116.5 billion ($31.1 billion), the same payout as the preceding three quarters. That would boost its total dividends for 2024 to SAR466 billion ($124.3 billion) and equate to 34 percent of the SAR1.37 trillion of state spending last year, according to AGBI calculations. The kingdom’s annual deficit was SAR115.6 billion. Aramco introduced an additional “performance-linked” dividend in 2023, which boosted payouts significantly; assuming fourth-quarter net profit is in line with that of the first nine months of 2024, Aramco’s dividend-to-profit ratio would be 110 percent. Or, put more simply, Aramco will pay more in dividends than it made in profit. Why the increased windfalls for deteriorating performance? The government, which owns 81.5 percent of Aramco, needs the money. Likewise, the state-owned Public Investment Fund, which also holds a 16 percent stake and is a lead protagonist in the country’s economic diversification programme.

  • Wa’ed Ventures, Saudi Aramco’s venture arm, invests in Ori

    Ori, the UK’s leading provider of cloud infrastructure for AI, has secured a key strategic investment from Wa’ed Ventures, Saudi Aramco’s venture capital arm, as it eyes up explosive growth in the Middle East market over the coming 12 months. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. The announcement comes hot on the heels of news that Ori was one of the UK’s first AI infrastructure companies to deploy Nvidia’s H200 chips as the startup positions itself as the go-to AI infrastructure provider of choice in the UK, Middle East, and globally. Ori is a UK-based startup that enables large-scale AI model training, inference, and deployment for large corporates, enterprises, and fast-growth AI scaleups through its cloud platform. Since launch in 2019, the business has rapidly scaled to a presence in over 20 locations, predominantly across North America and Europe.

  • Saudi Aramco to acquire 25% stake in Unioil Petroleum Philippines

    Saudi Arabia's Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab has signed an agreement to acquire a 25% equity stake in Unioil Petroleum Philippines, the company said in a statement late on Wednesday. The company, however, did not disclose financial details of the transaction. Established in 1966, Unioil is a downstream fuels operator with a network of 165 retail stations and four storage terminals in the Philippines, the statement said. The deal follows Aramco's previous retail acquisitions in Chile and Pakistan. Aramco said the Unioil stake acquisition represents further progress in its strategic downstream expansion and growth of its global retail network. It added that the deal aims to capitalise on anticipated growth of the high-value fuels market in the Philippines, and it planned to extend its brand and retail offerings such as Valvoline-branded lubricants to select retail stations in the country.

  • Saudi Aramco Joins The Open Group as Platinum Member

    The Open Group, the vendor-neutral technology standards organization, has today announced that Saudi Aramco has become its latest Platinum Member. In this capacity, Saudi Aramco will have the opportunity to expand its presence across The Open Group Forums, take a leadership position, and have representation on the Governing Board. Saudi Aramco first joined The Open Group in 2016 as a Member of the Open Process Automation™ Forum (OPAF). The company has since collaborated with industry leaders on an O-PAS™ Automation Test Bed, assessing and validating next-generation open and interoperable technologies. In 2020, Saudi Aramco also became a member of The Open Group OSDU® Forum, joining industry peers in developing transformational technology to support the world’s changing energy needs.

  • Armada to deploy containerized Edge data centers in Saudi for Aramco

    The California-based company offers ruggedized and self-contained satellite-connected data center modules (in 3-rack 20ft and 6-rack 40ft models) known as Galleons that use SpaceX’s Starlink network, and an Edge device and computing management platform. It also offers Edge/AI applications. "The deployment of Galleons in Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with Aramco Digital and Microsoft, marks a significant milestone in advancing real-world AI through edge computing," said Dan Wright, co-founder and CEO of Armada. Armada has raised more than $100 million to date. Investors in the company include Microsoft, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital, 8090 Industries, Felicis, Contrary, Valor Equity Partners, Marlinspike, 137 Ventures, Koch Real Estate Investments, and 8VC.

  • Saudi Oil Giant Aramco Buys Its First U.S. WTI Midland Crude Cargo

    The world’s biggest crude oil exporter, Saudi Aramco, bought this week its first cargo of U.S. WTI Midland, the crude grade which is now part of the dated Brent benchmark, S&P Global Commodity Insights told Reuters. The Saudi oil giant, which is also the world’s biggest oil company, bought the cargo in the Platts window from commodity trader Gunvor. This was Saudi Aramco’s first purchase of WTI crude in the window, Joel Hanley, global director of crude and fuel oil markets at S&P Global Commodity Insights, told Reuters. Aramco, which looks to expand its crude trading business, has already sold WTI. This occurred in February last year.

  • Behind Saudi Aramco’s Pivot Toward Sustainable Manufacturing

    The soaring demand for lithium, which has tripled over the past five years and is expected to surge exponentially with the rise in EV production and renewable energy deployments, Aramco positions at the forefront of the critical minerals market. Through its partnership with Ma'aden, the largest mining company in the Middle East and North Africa, Aramco is not just participating but potentially leading the lithium supply chain development. By joining forces with Ma'aden, Aramco is significantly enhancing its capabilities in the lithium sector. This partnership merges Aramco's technological prowess and geological knowledge with Ma'aden's mining expertise, setting the stage for a robust lithium production base in Saudi Arabia.

  • Saudi Aramco Sees Oil Demand Growth at 1.3 Million Bpd in 2025

    Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil exporter, expects global oil demand to grow by a steady 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) this year compared to 2024, the chief executive of the biggest oil firm in the world told Reuters. Oil demand is set to hit nearly 106 million bpd this year, up from about 104.6 million bpd last year, Saudi Aramco’s chief executive officer Amin Nasser told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We still think the market is healthy ... last year we averaged around 104.6 million barrels (per day), this year, we're expecting an additional demand of about 1.3 million barrels ... so there is growth in the market,” Nasser told Reuters

  • Saudi Aramco and Sonatrach cut LPG prices for January

    Oil producer Saudi Aramco and Algeria's Sonatrach lowered January's official selling prices (OSPs) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by between 1.6% and 6% from December because of weaker demand for the fuel, traders said on Thursday. Aramco's January OSP for propane decreased by $10 to $625 a metric ton while butane dropped by $15 to $615 a ton, the traders said. Propane and butane are types of LPG with different boiling points.

  • Saudi Aramco leads $30m investment in tech startup

    Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million venture capital fund owned by Saudi Aramco, and Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo have invested in Zension Technologies, a consumer electronics startup. Wa’ed led the funding raise of $30 million, which also included Dubai-based Global Ventures. Based in Riyadh, Zension provides consumers with access to the latest tech devices. Instead of purchasing devices outright, customers can subscribe to use them for a monthly fee, with options to upgrade, switch brands or return devices as needed.