Saudi’s Aramco 2021 full-year profits hit a new record as the company registered a 124% increase to $110 billion compared to $49 billion in 2020. The energy giant attributed the shoot-up to increased oil prices as the market recovers from a pandemic-induced downturn. “Our strong results are a testament to our financial discipline, flexibility through evolving market conditions and steadfast focus on our long-term growth strategy,” Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement.
Amid soaring profits, Aramco is planning to increase oil production by having the capacity to produce 13 million barrels per day by 2027. “We recognize that energy security is paramount for billions of people around the world, which is why we continue to make progress on increasing our crude oil production capacity, executing our gas expansion program and increasing our liquids to chemicals capacity,” said Nasser.
Concerning investments, Nasser said the company remains uncertain due to “macroeconomic and geopolitical factors” and that the current plans are solely based on “rising long-term demand for reliable, affordable, and ever more secure and sustainable energy.”
As the oil giant plans to increase production, transitioning to net-zero is also part of the bigger plan. Aramco said it wants to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Scope 1 are emissions directly coming from sources owned by the company while scope 2 are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased power consumed by the company.
The massive gains are also a result of Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts since he was crowned a prince in 2017. Salman is planning to restructure the economy of Saudi by leveraging on the massive oil assets to invest in other industries outside oil and gas. The Saudi government has a stake of more than 94% in Aramco. In February, the kingdom transferred a 4 percent stake of Aramco shares worth $80bn to the country’s wealth fund meant to diversify its hydrocarbon-dependent economy.
