Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported a 2.3 per cent drop in third-quarter profits on Tuesday as a slump in prices continued to hit revenues.

The fall in net income to $26.94 billion from $27.56 billion in 2024 marks the 11th consecutive quarterly drop for Aramco, one of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalisation.

“The decrease was mainly driven by lower revenue and other income related to sales, partially offset by lower operating costs,” Aramco said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange.

Crude prices have been pinched in recent months by a cloudy outlook for demand owing to global economic uncertainty linked to tariffs and recession worries.

But geopolitical issues — including new US sanctions targeting Russian energy companies — have helped keep oil prices from sliding more significantly.

The results also come just days after the eight key members of the OPEC+ alliance, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, announced the latest hike in oil production.

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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) have ratcheted up output increases at a pace few predicted at the beginning of the year.

The move to increase production follows a long period of producers cutting production to buoy prices.

But faced with growing competition, particularly from US shale oil producers, clawing back a larger share of the petroleum market has become the group’s priority.

AFP