Saudi Aramco has reported a net income of $31.9 billion in the first quarter of 2023, despite the decline in international crude prices.

The world’s largest oil exporter’s net income from January to April is almost 19% lower than the $39.5 billion profit made in the same period last year, while its cash flow has risen marginally to $39.6 billion, it said on Tuesday.

Global crude prices declined in the first quarter of 2023, mainly driven by macroeconomic events contributing to market volatility, it said.

Aramco’s net income beat expectations of $30.5 billion in the first quarter, which was forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.

Chief executive Amin Nasser said Aramco’s growth strategy remains on track across its downstream and upstream businesses, and it is swiftly progressing with its expansion plans.

“We are also moving forward with our capacity expansion, and our long-term outlook remains unchanged as we believe oil and gas will remain critical components of the global energy mix for the foreseeable future,” Nasser said.

The company’s results reflect its “continued high reliability, focus on cost and ability to react to market conditions”, Nasser said.

Aramco believes it is well positioned to withstand fluctuating commodity prices through its low-cost upstream production and strategically integrated downstream operations, and continued to deliver robust earnings and cash flows, he said.

The company has highlighted its “intention to introduce a mechanism for performance-linked dividends, in addition to the base dividend the company currently distributes”.

Reliable supplier

Nasser said the company aims “to be a reliable energy supplier with the ability to provide more sustainable energy solutions, supporting efforts to achieve an orderly energy transition”.

“By working to further reduce the carbon footprint of our operations, and adding new lower-carbon energy options to our portfolio, I am confident about the contributions we will make,” he added.

Aramco earlier this year reported $161.1 billion net income for the 2022 financial year, its highest annual profit ever as a listed company.

Its own capital expenditure this year to expected to be between $45 billion and $55 billion, including external investments, with capex increasing until around the middle of the decade.

Nasser earlier said that the company’s “focus is not only on expanding oil, gas and chemicals production but also investing in new lower-carbon technologies with the potential to achieve additional emission reductions”.

Capacity expansion

Aramco said its average hydrocarbon production in the first quarter was 12.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The country is expanding its “maximum sustainable” oil production capacity to 13 million bpd by 2027, up from the existing 12 million bpd level.

Aramco is greatly expanding the capacity of its offshore oilfields, which is a crucial element of its strategy to boost the country’s oil production.

The state-giant earlier said that “construction and engineering activities for the Marjan and Berri crude oil increments continue to progress, and are expected to add production capacity of 300,000 bpd and 250,000 bpd, respectively, by 2025”.