Saudi Aramco Sticks With Big Dividend Despite Oil Crash

Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco said it will distribute dividends of $18.75 billion for the second quarter despite taking a severe hit to its earnings from the oil price crash and the coronavirus pandemic that savaged demand for oil products. The company said it had earned a net $6.6 billion during the second quarter, down from $24.7 billion a year earlier. Free cash flow stood at $6.1 billion at the end of June this year, versus $20.6 billion a year earlier. Given this discrepancy between available cash and the size of the dividend, Aramco…