DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco said on Sunday it boosted its dividends last year despite net profit falling to $121.3 billion from a record $161.1 billion in 2022 on lower oil prices.

The profit was still the company’s second-highest on record, it said.

Aramco boosted total dividends for the year by 30% to $97.8 billion.

Aramco declared a base dividend, paid regardless of results, of $20.3 billion for the fourth quarter, to be paid this quarter.

It approved a $10.8 billion performance-linked dividend, the third such payout. Both dividends were increased from the previous quarter.

The company said capital investments were at $49.7 billion in 2023, including $42.2 billion in organic capital expenditure.

That was up from $38.8 billion in capital investments and $37.6 billion organic capex in 2022.

It forecast capital investments between $48 billion and $58 billion this year, growing until the middle of the decade.

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The Saudi government in late January ordered Aramco to scrap its expansion plan to boost production capacity to 13 million barrels a day (mbpd), returning to the previous 12 mbpd target.

The decision “is expected to reduce capital investment by approximately $40 billion between 2024 and 2028,” Aramco said. Its free cash flow fell to $101.2 billion in 2023 from $148.5 billion in 2022.