Oil & Gas

Aramco to continue raising debt to fund expansion, says CEO

By Pramod Kumar

May 30, 2025, 7:58 AM

Amin Nasser, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Aramco, speaks on the opening day of CERAWeek at Hilton of the Americas in Houston, Texas, on March 10, 2025. (Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE — Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said the company's gearing is 'around 5%, still one of the lowest in the industry'

Saudi oil giant raises $5bn
Nasser says outlook is ‘bullish’
Considering asset sales

Saudi Aramco will continue borrowing to support its expansion and effectively leverage its balance sheet, the head of the energy giant said.

The Saudi-listed oil giant this week raised $5 billion in bonds as spreads tightened.

The five-year issue, which was priced at 80 basis points (bps) over US treasury bonds, tightened from its original 115bps guidance.

The spread of a 10-year issue tightened from 130bps to 95bps, while a 30-year issue came down from 185bps to 155bps.

“Our gearing today is around 5 percent, still one of the lowest in the industry,” CEO Amin Nasser told Bloomberg TV.

The company will continue to tap into bond markets in the future, he said.

Reuters reported this month that Aramco was considering asset sales to free up funds and had approached investment bankers to pitch ideas for how to raise funds.

In earnings calls after its first quarter 2025 results were announced, Nasser said the company expects demand for oil to be higher this year than in 2024 and to hold “steady”.

He reiterated his “bullish” outlook, referring to an increase in 1.7 million barrels a day in demand, which is to expand.

Aramco has one of the world’s lowest oil extraction costs, at nearly $3 a barrel, and can sustain itself during periods of weak prices, Nasser said.

The Saudi government directly controls 81.5 percent of Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, controls a further 16 percent stake and the remainder is listed on the Saudi stock exchange.

Aramco’s net income in the first quarter dropped 4.6 percent to $26 billion, with analysts predicting earlier this month that the worst might be yet to come for Aramco.

It paid out base dividends of SAR79 billion ($21 billion), a 4.2 percent increase year on year, but paid only SAR800 million in performance-related dividends, compared with SAR40 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

In March Aramco doubled down on its plan to spend between $52 billion and $58 billion on capital expenditure investments throughout 2025, largely focused on its natural gas and petrochemical ambitions.

Aramco may find it difficult to raise funds. Its share price on the Saudi Exchange has fallen by more than 11 percent during the past six months, making the prospect of selling more of its capital less attractive.

“Otherwise, they take on more debt,” said Robin Mills, CEO of Qamar Energy and an AGBI columnist.

Aramco shares were trading 0.2 percent lower at SAR25.40 on Thursday afternoon.