Saudi Aramco announced its 10th straight drop in quarterly profits as falling oil prices hit revenues, putting pressure on the key driver of Saudi Arabia's economy, Agence France-Presse reported on August 5.

Second-quarter profits slid 22% year-on-year to SAR85bn ($22.67bn), extending a decline that stretches back to late 2022.

"The decrease in revenue was mainly due to lower crude oil prices and lower refined and chemical products prices," Aramco said in its quarterly report.

The falling revenues come as Saudi Arabia pursues a costly revamp aimed at reducing its reliance on oil and pivoting towards tourism and business through Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 project.

Aramco was trading at SAR23.97 on August 5, 12% below the SAR27.35 price of its secondary share offering last year.

Since a high point of nearly $2.4tn in 2022, when oil prices soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Aramco has lost more than $800bn in market value.

Oil prices, currently around $70 per barrel, have remained low despite tensions in the Middle East, including the Israel-Iran conflict in June.

Aramco President and CEO Amin H Nasser remained optimistic, predicting higher demand in the rest of the year.

"Market fundamentals remain strong and we anticipate oil demand in the second half of 2025 to be more than 2mn barrels per day higher than the first half," he said.

On August 3, Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other key members of the OPEC+ alliance announced a production hike of 547,000 barrels per day as they unwind cuts of 2.2mn bpd designed to prop up prices.

Last month, Saudi Arabia's Jadwa Investment forecast a widening of the budget deficit to 4.3% of GDP this year. Oil revenues provided 62% of the budget last year.

Ibrahim Abdul Mohsen, an Abu Dhabi-based analyst, said oil market forces are "more downwards than upwards in the first half of 2025, due to OPEC+ policy shifts and economic uncertainty."