Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s biggest oil producers, is yet another oil giant to see its profits soar this year due to high energy prices. The company announced on Sunday that its net income had jumped 90 percent in comparison to Q2 of last year, hitting an eye watering $48.4 billion. This has broken records for the second quarter in a row since its initial public offering on the Riyadh stock market in December 2019.
As our chart shows, Aramco made $25.5 billion during the same period of last year. The company has seen a steady increase since profits dipped back in 2020, when the pandemic brought the world to a standstill and demand slowed. Where Aramco recorded $49 billion in net income at the end of 2020, it had risen by more than 120 percent by the end of 2021, to $110 billion. The company puts the latest increases down to “higher crude oil prices and volumes sold, as well as strong refining margins.”
Aramco is the latest in a string of oil giants to publish record profits this year. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led countries to look for alternatives to Russian gas, including turning to other oil rich nations - such as Saudi Arabia. This increased demand has seen oil prices soar. Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser confirmed this in a statement, adding: “We expect oil demand to continue to grow for the rest of the decade despite downward economic pressures on short-term global forecasts.”
Increasing oil prices have contributed to higher inflation, with many countries now expected to fall into recession.
