Saudi Aramco has unseated Microsoft from the place of the world's second-largest company in terms of market value, boasting $2.11 trillion in value, second only to Apple.
The change in ranking occurred last month after Aramco's shares rose on the news that the kingdom's Crown Prince will transfer 4% of the state oil company to an entity owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Middle East Monitor reported.
The transfer was made to strengthen the sovereign wealth fund's financial position and its credit rating, an official statement by prince Mohammed bin Salman said in mid-April.
"This is a private transfer between the state and Sanabil, and the company is not a party to the transfer and did not enter into any agreements or pay or receive any proceeds from the transfer," Aramco said in a stock exchange filing cited by the Associated Press.
Aramco reported a net profit of $161.1 billion for 2022, up from $110 billion a year earlier and a record net earnings result for the company, which joins every other big oil producer in the world to benefit from higher oil prices.
That figure also made Aramco the world's most profitable company last year, ahead of Apple and the rest of Big Tech. The 2022 profit figure was, in fact, higher than the profits of Apple, Exxon, and Microsoft combined, Middle East Monitor noted.
The oil company also boasted a record cash flow from operating activities, at $186.2 billion, and a record free cash flow, at $148.5 billion.
In comments on the company's results, chief executive Amin Nasser noted that he expected oil and gas demand across the world to remain robust, fueling the future growth of the company. He also cautioned, however, that global underinvestment in new production threatened the security of supply.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Moreover, Saudi Aramco is now the world’s second largest company after Apple boasting a market value of $2.11 trillion, net profit of $161.1 bn in 2022 and a record free cash flow of $148.5 bn.
Furthermore, the Arab Gulf countries are also embracing the latest technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) in order to improve education and train a qualified workforce for the jobs of tomorrow.
GCC Universities have been attracting increasing recognition for embracing new technologies and have been rising in the ranking of global universities published by Times Higher Education.
Oil has let the Arab genie out of the bottle and there is no limit how high it will soar in influence, technology and economic power.
This is becoming blatantly obvious from the way the young Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is asserting his country’s independence, defying the United States when necessary and allying his country with other superpowers with whom Saudi national interests could be better served.
The Arab Gulf region will be one of three regions in the world that will supply the last three barrels of oil. The other two are Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt and Russia’s Arctic with the very last barrel produced coming from the Gulf region. This will endow these three regions with extraordinary strategic, economic and geopolitical powers.
Western powers led by the United States will do everything in their power to frustrate the Arab Gulf ambitions. That is why Western green policies have a sinister and hidden side to them, namely to keep Arab, Russian and Venezuelan oil and gas underground if they can for their future use. This is also why the United States sparked the Ukraine conflict to pre-empt this eventuality.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Global Energy Expert