Saudi Aramco reported on Tuesday a net income of US$16.66 billion for the first quarter of 2020, down from net earnings of US$22.2 billion for Q1 2019, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the oil price crash that Saudi Arabia itself helped to worsen with the oil price war in March. Despite the profit slump of US$6 billion in Q1, Aramco’s free cash flow was more resilient and fell to US$15 billion from US$17.4 billion in Q1 2019. “The first quarter of 2020 was impacted by declining global crude oil demand resulting from COVID-19 and its impact on worldwide economic activity. This led to lower crude oil prices and continued pressure on refining and chemicals margins,” Saudi Arabia’s oil giant said in a statement. Despite the slump in profits, Aramco is on track to pay dividends worth US$75 billion for the year, considering the Q1 dividend payout, but some […]