Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported a first-quarter profit on Tuesday of $31.88 billion, down from $39.47 billion the same quarter last year.
The firm known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. blamed the drop on lower global oil prices. Aramco made a $30.73 billion profit in the fourth quarter of last year.
In March, Aramco announced earning $161 billion last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists amid concerns about climate change. Those earnings came off the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, with sanctions limiting the sale of Moscow’s oil and natural gas in Western markets.
