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Aramco has never made so many profits. The Saudi oil giant announced on Sunday March 12 record profits in 2022, with 161 billion dollars, an increase of 46% compared to the previous year. This is also the case for the other major international oil groups which are benefiting from the surge in crude oil prices in 2022.
The price of black gold continues to increase… and so do profits. It had started two years ago. And in 2022, it is the war in Ukraine that has caused new tensions. From 40 dollars per barrel on average in 2020, the price has risen to 60 dollars. Before Aramco, the French TotalEnergies had already announced record profits in February.
But the courses should drop slightly in 2023, explains Olivier Appert, energy advisor at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI):
The market, in the long term, rather anticipates a fall, of the order of 10%, in 2023. We would still arrive at price levels that are still significantly higher than those we had experienced in 2021, for example.
After the record profit of several oil groups in 2022 “the market is considering a 10% drop” in prices, according to Olivier Appert, energy adviser at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI)
Des profits « mind-blowing and shocking »
The 161 billion profits for Aramco provoke the ulcerated reaction of many associations and NGOs, including that of the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard:
« These are the most important results that have ever been disclosed by a company in a single year, they are based on the sale of fossil fuels, therefore the main driver of the climate crisis. These profits, which have been amassed in a year of great suffering for the world and for the planet, are mind-boggling and shocking. »
Amnesty International calls on Saudi Arabia to finance a fund for a fairer energy transition.
► To read also: The energy giants “did nothing to deserve their superprofits”, says Joseph Stiglitz