Uncertainty unleashed by Donald Trump’s trade war gave a financial blow to the state giant of Saudi Arabia before the high -level visit of the American president to the kingdom this week.
Saudi Aramco, The largest oil company in the world, said on Sunday that profits during the first quarter of the year dropped from $ 26 billion to $ 26 billion (19.5 billion pounds Sterling) because concerns about world trade have attenuated oil prices.
This led the company to reduce its dividend by $ 31 billion to $ 21.4 billion in the last quarter of last year.
Amin H. Nasser, director general of Saudi Aramco, said: “Global trade dynamics affected energy markets in the first quarter of 2025, economic uncertainty having an impact on oil prices.”
Oil prices have dropped following The announcement of Mr. Trump’s “Liberation Day” prices, Due to the fears of slowing down economic activity in the world.
A recent decision by the OPEC cartel to increase production has also exerted downward pressure on crude oil prices, which now oscillate a barrel at $ 64.
Saudi Aramco said it had sold crude oil barrels at an average price of $ 76.30 in the first quarter, compared to $ 83 over the same period last year.
The actions of the company also dropped by more than 3PC in the last month and fell by almost 17pc in the past year.
It comes as Mr. Trump is Prepare for a Middle East visit this week, Where he will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the hope of concluding a series of lucrative investment contracts.
Trump said he hoped to convince Riyadh to invest more than one dollars Billion in the American economy.
Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary of the White House, said that last week, Trump was looking forward to making a “historic return” to the Middle East.
She said: “President Trump will return to underline his continuous vision of a proud, prosperous and prosperous Middle East, where the United States and the Middle East nations are in cooperative relations, and where extremism is defeated in place of trade and culture exchanges.”
Robert Mogielnicki, a principal resident researcher at Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told Reuters: “The Trump administration wants this trip to be a big problem.
Meanwhile, the profits from the Saudi Aramco follows Decreases on the giants of rival oil and BP.
BP displayed a 49PC drop in profits for the first quarter last, while Shell’s profits for the same period fell by almost a third.
For Saudi Aramco, which is 81.5pc belonging to the Saudi government, he will add to the pressures on the direction of the Kingdom as it fights to diversify its economy far from the fossil fuels.
