AFP

The Saudi Aramco oil company announced on Sunday that it achieved a record profit of $48.4 billion in the second quarter of 2022, an increase of 90.2 percent compared to the same period last year, thanks to the rise in oil prices against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. The announcement is a continuation of the good news for the Saudi economy, the largest in the Middle East, which recorded a growth of about 12 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2021, the fastest in a decade thanks to the revenues of the oil sector. The giant company said in a statement that it achieved an increase in its quarterly net income by 90.2%, "from 95.5 billion riyals ($25.5 billion) in the second quarter of 2021 to 181.16 billion riyals ($48.4 billion). dollars) in the second quarter of 2022. She attributed this to "the rise in crude oil prices, the increase in the quantities sold, and the increase in the profit margins of the refining sector." The company continued to achieve record quarterly profits for the second consecutive quarter, after profits of $39.5 billion in the first quarter. This quarterly profit is the highest since the 1.7 percent of the company's shares were floated on the stock exchange in the world's largest public offering in late 2019, and exceeded analysts' expectations of $ 46.2 billion. Saudi Aramco President and Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said, “Despite the continued volatility and uncertainty of global markets, events in the first half of this year confirm our view that continued investment in the energy sector is essential in order to help ensure a healthy supply of markets and facilitate The process of orderly transformation of energy. "We expect oil demand to continue to grow for the rest of the current decade, despite negative economic pressures on the global outlook in the short term," he added. The net profit in the second quarter increased by 22.7% compared to the first quarter of the year Half-year profits amounted to $87.91 billion, compared to $47.18 billion in the same period last year. Aramco's share price reached 40.8 riyals ($10.9) at the start of trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange on Sunday. The giant company distributed a dividend of $ 18.8 billion to shareholders in the first quarter and will pay the same amount in the second quarter as well. - locomotive growth oil - And last May, the Saudi oil company toppled the giant American technology group "Apple" as the most valuable company in the world in market value. before falling back to become a second. Aramco, "the jewel in the crown" of the kingdom, is one of the pillars of financing the ambitious project of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the sources of his country's oil-dependent economy. Last March, Aramco announced that it had recorded an increase in its annual net profit in 2021 by 124% compared to the year 2020, when the Corona pandemic hit the world's economies. Saudi Arabia achieved a growth in revenues for the second quarter of its budget by 49 percent compared to the same period last year, with a surplus of about $21 billion, according to what the Ministry of Finance announced earlier this month. This huge increase was driven by an 89% increase in oil revenues compared to the same period last year. Saudi Arabia benefited from the high oil prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the world's largest oil exporter has resisted Western requests to increase black gold production in an effort to curb its prices. Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product is expected to grow by 7.6 percent in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund. After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and the UAE confirmed their commitment to the OPEC Plus oil alliance led by Riyadh and Moscow, underlining the increasing independence of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi from their Washington ally. Oil was on the agenda of US President Joe Biden's meeting with the Kingdom's leaders in the middle of last month, but the visit ended without an agreement to increase production.