Saudi Aramco profit soars on demand recovery
Energy giant Saudi Aramco's second quarter profits for 2021 have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels due to higher oil prices, nearly quadrupling compared to the same period last year.
The company's success comes after its debts climbed last year, when Saudi Arabia was hammered by the double whammy of low prices and sharp cuts in production triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Aramco said on Sunday its net profit rose to $25.5 billion in the second quarter of the year, compared to $6.6 billion in the same quarter of 2020, owing to a stronger oil market and higher refining and chemicals margins, and with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
In the second quarter of 2019, before global economies were hit hard by Covid-19 restrictions, the company posted a net profit of $24.7 billion.
"Our second quarter results (for 2021) reflect a strong rebound in worldwide energy demand, and we are heading into the second half of 2021 more resilient and more flexible, as the global recovery gains momentum," Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said in a statement.
Aramco -- like other global oil giants, including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and TotalEnergies -- has reported stronger profits this year, riding a wave of higher prices amid recovering demand.
It reported "a 288 percent increase in net income from the same quarter of last year to $25.5 billion and declaring a dividend of $18.8 billion", according to the statement.
Sunday's announcement comes approximately two months after the company said it raised $6 billion from its first dollar-denominated Islamic bond sale, posting earlier this year a 30 per cent jump in first quarter profits.
Aramco -- the kingdom's cash cow -- said in May that its net profit rose to $21.7 billion in the first three months of the year.
Source: www.thedailystar.net
