Saudi oil giant Aramco opened its secret accounts for the first time, in a bid to secure funds from investors, and provided a rare glimpse into the profits made by the company in 2018. International ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s got rare access to Aramco’s accounts which show the firm posting billions in profits. The accounts place Aramco at the top of corporate firms making it the most profitable firm in the world for 2018.
Moody’s Investors Service said Aramco posted a net profit of $111.1 billion in 2018 — far higher than the combined net earnings of the five international oil majors — and generated $359.9 billion in revenues. Last year US oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil, Britain’s BP, Anglo-Dutch rival Royal Dutch Shell and France’s Total together posted nearly $80 billion.
Aramco also removed Apple as the world’s most profitable firm. Last year the US tech giant posted nearly $60 billion in net profits. Aramco made more profit than Apple, Alphabet and Exxon Mobil combined.
It is pertinent to mention here that Aramco is the same company that is setting up an oil refinery worth $10 Billion in Gwadar located in the Balochistan province of Pakistan at the terminus of CPEC. Gwadar is set to be the economic hub of Asia in the coming days attracting huge foreign investments
