Saudi Arabia’s Aramco Reports Record Profits

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) announced a second-quarter net profit on Sunday of $48.4 billion, a 90% year-over-year increase and a new quarterly record for the company since it went public in 2019. Aramco also had a record-breaking half-year net income of $87.9 billion, compared to $47.2 billion a year earlier. Increased oil prices, volume sold, and refining margins all pushed profits up compared to last year. Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser said the record profits also reflected increasing demand for petroleum products, and that despite downward economic pressure on short-term global forecasts, demand was expected to rise for the remainder of the decade. Aramco will pay an $18.8 billion dividend to shareholders in the third quarter, the company said.