It is a sign of the times that the largest oil company in the world, Saudi Aramco , the state oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, must borrow money to pay its shareholder dividend . I have written about the twice-delayed and often troubled initial public offering of the company previously ( here and here ). Now it seems that the cash which the company is generating from operations is far less than the dividend payout—which leaves nothing for new drilling to replace reserves and other capital expenditures needed to keep the company going. Hence, the need to borrow. All of this is due, in part, to low oil prices. And, the Saudis are not the only ones suffering, of course. U.S. producers, mostly those focused on high-cost shale deposits, continue to head toward bankruptcy or merge with other stronger companies . Another part of the equation […]