Saudi Aramco has reported a net income of $32.58bn (SR122.18bn) for the third quarter of 2023, a 23.2% decline from $42.43bn (SR159bn) a year ago.

Revenue and other income related to sales during the quarter fell 20.3% to $130.38bn from $163.7bn last year.

The Saudi Arabian oil and gas company said financial results were primarily impacted by the fall in hydrocarbon prices and lower margins in refining and chemicals.

In the third quarter of 2023, Aramco’s total hydrocarbon production stood at 12.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Earnings before interest, income taxes and zakat from the upstream operations declined 22.7% to $60.63bn from $78.39bn in the year-ago period.

Both lower average realised crude oil prices and fewer volumes sold contributed to the decline in upstream earnings, which was somewhat offset by a decline in production royalties.

During the quarter that ended on 30 September, the energy giant advanced its gas expansion plan through the expansion of the Hawiyah Gas Plant.

This increased the plant's raw gas processing capacity by 800 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), which includes about 750mcfd of sales gas processing capacity.

Aramco maintained its dividend policy by announcing base dividend of $19.5bn, which will be paid in the fourth quarter.

Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser said: “During the third quarter we agreed to make our first international investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) to capitalise on rising LNG demand, and announced our intention to enter the South American retail market.

“These planned investments demonstrate the scale of our ambition, the broad scope of our activities, and the disciplined execution of our strategy. We intend to continue investing across the hydrocarbon chain, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to optimise our operations and advance the development of emerging energy solutions.”