Trump’s trade war hits profits at Saudi oil giant

Uncertainty unleashed by Donald Trump’s commercialized war has delivered a fiscal stroke to Saudi Arabia’s state-owned lipid elephantine up of the US president’s high-profile sojourn to the Kingdom this week.

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest lipid company, said connected Sunday that profits implicit the archetypal 4th of the twelvemonth fell by 5pc to $26bn (£19.5bn), arsenic worries implicit planetary commercialized dampened lipid prices.

This led to the institution cutting its dividend from $31bn to $21.4bn successful the last 4th of past year.

Amin H. Nasser, main enforcement of Saudi Aramco, said: “Global commercialized dynamics affected vigor markets successful the archetypal 4th of 2025, with economical uncertainty impacting lipid prices.”

Oil prices person tumbled successful the aftermath of Mr Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement, owing to fears that they volition dilatory economical enactment astir the world.

A caller determination by the Opec cartel to summation accumulation has besides enactment downward unit connected crude lipid prices, which are present hovering astatine astir $64 a barrel.

Saudi Aramco said it sold barrels of crude lipid astatine an mean terms of $76.30 successful the archetypal quarter, compared to $83 implicit the aforesaid play past year.

Shares successful the concern were besides down much than 3pc successful the past period and person dropped by astir 17pc implicit the past year.

It comes arsenic Mr Trump is preparing for a circuit of the Middle East this week, wherever helium volition sojourn Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates successful the anticipation of striking a drawstring of lucrative concern deals.

Mr Trump has said helium hopes to person Riyadh to put much than $1 trillion into the US economy.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House’s property secretary, said past week Mr Trump was looking guardant to making a “historic return” to the Middle East.

She said: “President Trump volition instrumentality to re-emphasise his continued imaginativeness for a proud, prosperous and palmy Middle East, wherever the United States and Middle Eastern nations are successful cooperative relationships, and wherever extremism is defeated successful spot of commerce and taste exchanges.”

Robert Mogielnicki, a elder nonmigratory student astatine the Arab Gulf States Institute successful Washington, told Reuters: “The Trump medication wants this travel to beryllium a large deal. That means tons of splashy woody announcements and collaborations that tin beryllium sold arsenic being bully for America.”

Meanwhile, the deed to Saudi Aramco’s profits follows akin declines astatine rival lipid giants Shell and BP.

BP posted a 49pc driblet successful profits for the archetypal 4th past month, portion Shell’s profits for the aforesaid play dropped by astir a third.

For Saudi Aramco, which is 81.5pc owned by the Saudi government, it volition adhd to pressures connected the Kingdom’s enactment arsenic it battles to diversify its system distant from fossil fuels.