Saudi oil giant Aramco posts third-quarter profits of $27.5 billion, down 15% from a year earlier

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco reported third-quarter profits of $27.5 billion on Tuesday, down about 15% from last year as low oil prices ate into its revenues.

Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., had revenues of $111.1 billion over the quarter, the company said in a filing on Riyadh's Tadawul stock exchange. It had $113 billion in revenues the same quarter last year.

Profits for the third quarter last year were $32.5 billion.

The profit decrease “was mainly due to the impact of lower crude oil prices and weakening refining margins,” Aramco said.

Profit for the first nine months of 2024 was $83.9 billion, down from $94.5 billion the year before.

Oil prices have been depressed over recent days as tensions in the Middle East appear to have receded slightly and as China's economy has slowed. Benchmark Brent crude traded Tuesday at around $75 a barrel.

Aramco will pay dividends of $20.28 billion for the third quarter and a performance-linked dividend of $10.77 billion, the company said. It has said it hopes its overall dividend for the year will be over $124 billion.

While a sliver of Aramco trades on the Tadawul, the vast majority is held by Saudi Arabia’s government, fueling its expenditures and providing wealth to its Al Saud royal family. The company also serves as a bellwether for the global oil industry.

Stock in Aramco traded around $7.31 a share Tuesday, down from a high this year of over $9. It has fallen over the past year as oil prices have dropped.

Aramco has a market value of $1.7 trillion, making it the world’s sixth-most valuable company behind Apple, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Alphabet which owns Google, and Amazon.

Aramco reported a $121 billion annual profit in 2023, down from its 2022 record due to lower energy prices.

Saudi Arabia’s vast oil resources, located close to the surface of its desert expanse, make it one of the world’s least expensive places to produce crude. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hopes to use the oil wealth to pivot the kingdom off oil sales, through projects such as his planned $500 billion futuristic desert city, called Neom. But lower oil prices have Saudi Arabia reportedly looking at curtailing some of those ambitions as the kingdom likely faces looming budget deficits.

Meanwhile, activists criticized the profits amid global concerns about the burning of fossil fuels accelerating climate change.

FILE - A man walks under a billboard displaying an advertisement for Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant Aramco with Arabic reading "Saudi Aramco, soon on stock exchange" in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on Nov. 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump appears to be siding with Elon Musk and his other backers in the tech industry as a dispute over immigration visas has divided his supporters.

Trump, in an interview with the New York Post on Saturday, praised the use of visas to bring skilled foreign workers to the U.S. The topic has become a flashpoint within his conservative base.

“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them," Trump said.

In fact, Trump has in the past criticized the H-1B visas, calling them “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. During his first term as president, he unveiled a “Hire American” policy that directed changes to the program to try to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants.

Despite his criticism of them and attempts to curb their use, he has also used the visas at his businesses in the past, something he acknowledged in his interview Saturday.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program," Trump told the newspaper.

He did not appear to address questions about whether he would pursue any changes to the number or use of the visas once he takes office Jan. 20.

Trump's hardline immigration policies, focused mostly on immigrants who are in the country illegally, were a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and a priority issue for his supporters.

But in recent days, his coalition has split in a public debate largely taking place online about the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Hard-right members of Trump's movement have accused Musk and others in Trump's new flank of tech-world supporters of pushing policies at odds with Trump's “America First" vision.

Software engineers and others in the tech industry have used H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and say they are a critical tool for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated.

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump listens to Elon Musk as he arrives to watch SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lift off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Nov. 19, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Pool via AP, File)