Saudi Aramco

The California-Arabian Standard Oil Company — a subsidiary of Standard Oil of California — was granted a concession to explore for oil in Saudi Arabia in May 1933. King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud signed the agreement for a £35,000 advance against future royalties. The Americans began drilling. In 1938, they struck one of the largest oil deposits ever discovered. The company was renamed Arabian American Oil Company — Aramco — in 1944.

Saudi Arabia participated in the 1973 oil embargo against the United States following U.S. support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Oil prices quadrupled. Saudi Arabia simultaneously began acquiring controlling interest in Aramco from its American owners. By 1980, Saudi Arabia owned 100% of Aramco. The company was renamed Saudi Aramco. The nationalisation transferred one of the most valuable assets in history from American corporations to the Saudi state.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Aramco immediately increased production to compensate for the lost Kuwaiti and Iraqi oil supply to the global market — preventing a supply shock that could have destabilised the world economy. The company produced an additional two million barrels per day within weeks, a logistical feat that demonstrated the unique scale and flexibility of Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure.

Saudi Aramco went public on the Saudi stock exchange in December 2019, raising $25.6 billion — surpassing Alibaba's 2014 record as the world's largest IPO. The offering valued Aramco at $1.7 trillion, making it briefly the world's most valuable company. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had originally sought a $2 trillion valuation; international investors pushed back. The IPO was eventually listed almost entirely with Saudi domestic investors.

Saudi Aramco reported net income of $159.7 billion in 2022 — the largest annual profit ever recorded by any company in history, surpassing Apple's previous record. The profit was driven by elevated oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Aramco distributed $75 billion in dividends — more than the annual GDP of many countries. The company produced approximately 12% of the world's oil supply from a single country.