Aramco is the biggest company in the Middle East in terms of sales, revenues, and market value, according to the latest Forbes list for the top 100 companies in the region.

With a market value of $2.1 trillion and sales of $604.4 billion, Aramco was an unsurprising winner of the top spot, with another 32 Saudi companies also on the top 100 list. This made Saudi Arabia the most represented country on the Forbes list.

Those also include SABIC, the industrial conglomerate, and Ma’aden, the Saudi state mining company. SABIC ranked at number two and Ma’aden was number 13 on the list.

Aramco reported a first-quarter net income of $31.9 billion, down by 19% from the first quarter of 2022 as macroeconomic concerns dragged down oil prices between January and March 2023.

Yet the company’s earnings figure still beat a median analyst estimate of $30.8 billion compiled by Refinitiv.

Aramco’s average realized crude oil price dropped to $81 per barrel in the first quarter of 2023, down from $97.7 a barrel in the same period of 2022.

Capital expenditures rose to $8.746 billion from $7.583 billion, driven by higher spending on boosting Saudi Arabia’s maximum sustainable production capacity to 13 million barrels per day and the development of natural gas projects, Aramco said.

Meanwhile, however, Aramco is about to reduce output, after the Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman announced an additional voluntary cut of 1 million bpd, to enter into effect from next month. This will bring the country’s oil output to some 9 million bpd.

The news of the cut sparked concern among buyers that the Saudis will not be able to deliver full contracted volumes but that concern was quenched by reports that the Saudi state oil company will supply full volumes in July despite the cut.

By Charles Kennedy via Oilprice.com