Between april and june, the company made a Profit Ofjust over 30 billion, a lot of money by anyones metric, but significantly down from more than the 48 billion it made in the same period a year ago. The main reason is, as you can see here, that oil prices during the period were at the lowest point in the last year, as the boost they got from russias invasion of ukraine wore off. And last week, in an effort to keep them that way, saudi arabia said it would only produce nine Million Barrels a day. That extended Production Cuts by the 0pec group of big oil producers, who profit more from a higher price. When it comes to saudi aramco, those higher prices mean higher Dividend Payments for shareholders, and its boosted those to nearly 30 billion in the current period. So i put it to our middle east Business Correspondent Sameer Hashmi that even with falling profits, the biggest winner is the saudi government, which is aramcos biggest shareholder. The saudi government owns around 90 of the c
Business stories. We start in saudi arabia as the Worlds Biggest Oil Company Aramco is set to announce its latest Half Year Results in the next half an hour or so. Last year, aramco netted record profits of over 160 billion, buoyed by soaring energy prices. But in may this year, they reported that profits dropped by nearly a fifth in the first three months of the year as the gloomy Global Outlook saw oil prices drop. To tackle this, saudi arabia has been cutting production to the tune of1 Million Barrels a day. They started in july and have now extended to september. The oil price has since been creeping up. Live now to our middle east Business Correspondent sameer hashmi. Sameer, nice to see you. 160 billion is so much money made in a year. What are they expected to say in the next half hour . Expected to say in the next half hour . Sally, ithink it is matching half hour . Sally, ithink it is matching up half hour . Sally, ithink it is matching up to half hour . Sally, ithink it is ma
Performance dividend. Live now to our middle east Business Correspondent sameer hashmi. Samir, Rhe Saudi State remains overwhelmingly aramco s biggest shareholder, so they remain the big winner in the aramco story. Well, thats right. They own around 90 of the company and the payout, the bulk of it, will go to the saudi government. If you look at aramco, every quarter they have been paying about 19. 8 billion of dividend. This time they have added another amount to that amount, because they said the cash flows are healthy and thatis said the cash flows are healthy and that is why they have decided to increase that overall dividend, which will be beneficial for the saudi government because it relies heavily on the Aramco Generating revenues for it, and that will help them in their Oil Diversification programme. They are these mega infrastructure projects, new tourist destinations. All this is being done keeping in that oil demand will decrease in years to come and they will have to come
We begin this morning in hawaii where authorities have increased the death toll caused by the wildfires there, at least 55 people now confirmed dead from the raging inferno that swept through the town of lahaina. The community there is just devastated from the loss. We are going to try our very best to identify those that have perished so that the families can have their closure and can have that understanding. When the mayor said it is all gone, it is all gone. It is all gone. It is gone. The governor estimated thursday that about 80 of the overall lahaina area was destroyed. County officials in maui say the fire there is mostly contained. The federal government also swinging into action with President Biden issuing a Disaster Declaration for maui and parts of the big island. And sfeefema oig administrator traveling there today. And i want to bring in a woman who is safe but also separated from her family. Her parents home has burnedsis firefighter there. First of all, how are you doi