By Summer Said and Nikhil Lohade


Saudi Arabia's national oil company posted a 39% jump in quarterly profit on Tuesday, as high oil prices boost earnings that are helping the kingdom pay for an ambitious economic transformation plan at home and to expand its diplomatic influence in the region.

Aramco, officially named Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said its net income amounted to $42.43 billion in the three months ended September, up from $30.43 billion in the same period a year earlier, driven by higher crude-oil prices and volumes sold.

The third-quarter profit was lower than what Aramco made in the previous quarter when it reported its highest quarterly net income since it started trading its shares on the Saudi stock exchange in 2019. Aramco said the decrease in profit was because of lower oil prices as compared with the second quarter and a decline in refining and chemicals margins.

While oil prices have cooled since a peak in March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they remain high. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, priced at an average of $70.86 a barrel last year and was at $41.96 a year earlier. It last traded at $94.19 a barrel on Tuesday.

Aramco, majority-owned by the Saudi government, said it would pay its shareholders $18.8 billion as cash dividends for the third quarter. Its free cash flow increased to a record $45 billion for the quarter, up from $28.7 billion in the same quarter last year, it said.


Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com and Nikhil Lohade at nikhil.lohade@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-01-22 0415ET