Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi energy minister
Aramco hits fresh financial highs
The Saudi oil behemoth is funnelling record earnings into domestic upstream
Saudi Aramco regained its crown as the world’s most-valuable company in mid-May, knocking US tech giant Apple off its perch. Four days later, the NOC heavyweight unveiled the fundamentals validating shareholder confidence—reporting an 82pc year-on-year surge in first-quarter profits, to $39.5bn, the highest since its listing in 2019, on the back of a surge in prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine combined with incremental unwinding of Opec+ production cuts. Saudi energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman has pledged to focus capex from ever-larger cash riches on domestic upstream expansion, reiterating Riyadh’s defiant and unwavering insistence on the continued need for investment in o
Also in this section
9 January 2026
The Latin American producer’s crude prospects rely on a multi-pronged approach where even the relatively easy wins will take considerable time, effort and cost
9 January 2026
While many forecasters are reasserting the importance of oil and gas, petrostates should be under no illusion things are changing, and faster than they might think
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
8 January 2026
The next five years will be critical for the North Sea, and it will be policy not geology that will decide the basin’s future
