Uche Cecil Izuora
Saudi oil giant Aramco has issued a $4-billion bond as it tapped the debt market for the first time this year amid persistently weak oil prices in the low $60s per barrel.
Aramco, the world’s top crude exporter and biggest international oil company, on Monday announced the start of issuing U.S.-dollar denominated international bonds under its Global Medium Term Note Programme, saying the issuance amount is subject to market conditions.
Saudi Aramco ultimately placed $4 billion in a four-tranche bond, which received more than $21 billion in orders, Reuters reports, citing fixed-income news service IFR.
Thanks to the high investor demand, Aramco was able to offer lower yields versus the benchmark U.S. Treasuries than initially guided, market sources said.
That’s the first bond issue for Aramco this year, but it’s the second issuance in five months as the Saudi oil giant and Saudi Arabia are suffering from the lower oil prices that have remained around the $60-65 mark for months.
In September 2025, Aramco offered Islamic bonds, the so-called sukuk, in five and ten-year issuances in what was the Saudi oil firm’s second debt issue last year and Saudi Arabia’s third in one week.
Lower oil prices have reduced Aramco’s cash flows in Q1, and the second quarter showed even larger declines in cash flow and profits as prices slumped.
In addition, the Kingdom in September sold $5.5 billion in Islamic bonds, orders for which hit $17.5 billion. The sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), sold $2 billion of 10-year dollar bonds, too, to fund part of its investment plans.
The busy bond issuance from Saudi Arabia and Aramco suggests that the decline in oil prices is straining the Kingdom’s finances. Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit grew last year as oil prices are down and well below the $90 per-barrel price the Kingdom is estimated to need to balance its budget.