Saudi Aramco’s Disappointing Earnings Are The Least Of Its Problems

It might appear counter-intuitive to characterise Saudi Aramco’s first quarter net income of SAR119.54 billion (US$31.88 billion) as bad but, in the context of what the company is, it is. It is not so much the 19 percent drop in net income that will be troubling to savvy oil market watchers. Some of that can be explained by the drop in oil prices over the quarter. Troubling rather is that the result came from the flagship oil and gas company of the third largest crude oil producer in the world with a near monopoly on its oil fields. These…