Saudi Aramco emerges as world's largest oil company with 259 billion barrels of reserves - Economy Middle East

Saudi Aramco emerges as world's largest oil company with 259

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned energy giant Aramco has emerged as the world’s largest oil company in terms of proven reserves, according to newly calculated figures.

Statista, a German data platform, reports that as of 2022, Aramco’s oil and gas reserves are estimated at around 259 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

This figure is 15 times greater than that of Aramco’s nearest competitor. In comparison, the combined proven reserves of industry giants such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, Shell, BP, and Eni pale in comparison, with ExxonMobil recording 17.7 billion barrels and Chevron 11.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Aramco’s profitability and production

The sheer size of Aramco’s reserves is reflected in its financial performance, with the company generating $716.2 billion in profits between 2016 and 2023, making it the world’s most profitable company. Additionally, Aramco produced an average of 12.8 million barrels of oil per day in 2023.

Concession terms and Saudi Arabia’s vast reserves

Statista notes that Aramco’s impressive reserve figures are tied to the terms of its concession, which limits its exploration and development to certain designated areas. Nonetheless, Saudi Arabia as a whole boasts one of the largest oil reserves globally, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s conventional oil sources, according to Statista.

Declining reserves among public oil companies

In contrast, a recent study by the US Energy Information Administration found that the proven international oil and natural gas reserves of 187 publicly traded exploration and production companies declined by 5.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or 2 percent, in 2022. This decrease was partially attributed to major oil companies, including TotalEnergies and BP, withdrawing from Russia, reducing the total proven reserves by 12 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Read more: Saudi Aramco, NextDecade sign 20-year LNG supply deal

Aramco’s secondary public offering

Amid this backdrop, Aramco has recently embarked on a secondary public offering, selling more than $10 billion worth of shares on June 2, 2024, with international investors accounting for 0.73 percent of the total shares following the completion of the new issue.

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