Aramco’s Profit Drop Is A Dire Warning For Saudi Arabia

By reporting a 44.6% decrease in profits in Q3 2020, Aramco has put a major damper on Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification strategies and overall stability. Saudi Aramco reported that its Q3 2020 profits decreased to Riyal 44.21 billion ($11.79 billion) from Riyal 79.84 billion ($21.29 billion) in Q3 2019. Worryingly, even those disappointing financials were helped by several royalty changes that boosted profits. The results from OPEC’s largest oil producer contradict the optimism being expressed by the oil cartel’s leaders…