Oil giant Saudi Aramco announced that its profits in the first quarter of this year amounted to $31.88 billion, compared to $39.47 billion in the same quarter of last year.
The company blamed the fall in its profits this year on lower global oil prices. Aramco made profits of $30.73 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
In March, Aramco reported profits of $161 billion last year, the highest annual profit ever for a publicly listed company, drawing criticism from activists amid concerns about climate change.
These profits came as a result of higher energy prices after the start of the crisis in Ukraine in February 2022, and the imposition of sanctions restricting Moscow’s sale of oil and natural gas in Western markets. However, oil prices have fallen in recent weeks amid fears of an upcoming recession as central banks in the United States and elsewhere raise interest rates in an attempt to tame inflation.
The price of benchmark Brent crude in Tuesday’s trading approached $76 a barrel, compared to $125 last year.
This article was originally published by RT.