Aramco Oil Payments to Saudi State Fall 30% to $110 Billion
- Taxes and royalties sank in 2020 as pandemic hit crude prices
- Oil giant’s debt-to-equity ratio surged to 55% over the year
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Aramco’s payments to the Saudi Arabian government fell by 30% last year, even as the company maintained its $75 billion dividend, with the coronavirus pandemic sending crude prices tumbling.
The world’s biggest oil producer transferred 413 billion riyals ($110 billion) to the state in 2020 in the form of dividends, royalties and income taxes, Aramco said in a financial statement on Monday. The money is a crucial source of revenue for the government, whose budget deficit widened last year as the economy went into recession.