Saudi Arabia’s Oil Company Slips To World’s 3rd Largest Company

Saudi Arabia's state-run oil giant, Saudi Aramco, is now the world's third-largest company by market capitalization, according to the companiesmarketcap.com list.

Aramco, with a market cap of $1.903 trillion, slid to the number three position behind Apple ($2.413T) and Microsoft ($1.920T).

Just two months ago, in mid-December, Aramco held the Number two position with a market cap of $1.81T, behind only Apple. And before that, In May of last year, Aramco was sitting at the top of the list with a $2.38 trillion market cap.

Al Rajhi Capital said in a January report that Aramco's net profit in Q4 2022 was expected to decline 6.3% from the previous quarter, to $38.90 billion due to a weak demand outlook stemming from a global economic slowdown.

But while Aramco's market cap has been slipping, the company is anticipating China's reopening to trigger a pick up in jet fuel demand and crude oil demand, CEO Amin Nasser said in a Bloomberg interview last month. "We are very optimistic in terms of demand coming back to the market," Nasser said at the time.

Aramco isn't the only one sharing a rosy outlook for global oil demand, with OPEC remaining "cautiously optimistic".

Aramco's Nasser lashed out last week against the ESG trends that were hampering investments into the oil and gas sector.

"As far as the future of capital markets is concerned, ESG is clearly a rising trend. And in my view, an increased emphasis on ESG is a move in the right direction," Nasser said last week, adding that if ESG-driven policies are implemented with a bias toward fossil fuel projects, the underinvestments would have serious ramifications with regard to energy security and affordability.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• Semiconductors Have An Emissions Problem
• Norway's Oil Production Dropped In January
• More Than Half Of Bitcoin Mining Is Fueled By Sustainable Power