Saudi Aramco earnings up in Q3, but still far less than last year

Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas giant Aramco announced Tuesday third quarter profits of nearly $12 billion, a significantly higher net income from its dramatically lower second quarter earnings.

Still, its third quarter earnings of $11.8 billion are down nearly 45% compared to last year’s $21.3 billion for the same quarter.

Aramco, like other energy producers globally, is wading through a tough year amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has seen countries impose various forms of lockdowns and travel restrictions that ultimately impact the demand for oil.

The company, which is mostly state-owned, said it produced the equivalent of 9.2 million barrels per day of crude oil for the first nine months of the year.