Saudi Aramco Becomes World’s Most Valuable Company
Saudi Aramco has become the world’s most valuable company, worth $2.42 trillion at the close of market trading on Wednesday. The Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company overtook Apple following a surge in oil prices due to supply disruptions from the Russo-Ukraine war. Apple was valued at $2.37 trillion when official trading ended on Wednesday. Saudi Aramco’s shares are up 27% so far this year, and Apple’s stock has fallen more than 17% since January.
Saudi Aramco has been under pressure to raise its output of crude oil as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions against Moscow have wreaked havoc with global energy markets.
Saudi Aramco first became the most valuable publicly listed company when it debuted on the market with an IPO, or initial public offering, in 2019; Apple overtook the oil and gas company in July 2020.