Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco is the world's largest oil company and the 3rd largest corporation in the world by market capitalization. With net profits last year topping $159 billion, it is deemed "the most profitable company in the history of the world."[1]
Aramco was founded in the 1930s as a branch of Standard Oil of California (now Chevron), and was directly controlled by U.S. executives until passing into Saudi state ownership in 1988.[2]
In 1973, the company played a crucial role in securing U.S. petrodollar hegemony through an agreement with Henry Kissinger and the Nixon Administration to only sell its oil for dollars, in exchange for U.S. military protection and financing through usurious bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury.
Throughout its history, the company has worked closely with major U.S. fossil fuel construction + equipment firms such as Bechtel and Caterpillar Inc and other oil companies like Halliburton.
The company's economic power helps account for the House of Saud's leading international role in blocking and delaying effective international climate action. In partnership with French company TotalEnergies, Aramco is preparing to construct a new $11 billion "world scale petrochemical facility" in Saudi Arabia starting in early 2023.[3]