Saudi Aramco reported a net profit of $39.5 billion for the first quarter of the year on the back of increasingly strong crude oil prices. The figure represented an 82-percent annual improvement and a record quarterly profit for Aramco since it went public.
Free cash flow rose to $30.6 billion from $18.3 billion a year earlier, and cash flow from operating activities went up to $38.2 billion from $26.5 billion a year ago. Aramco recently dismissed Apple as the world’s most valuable company, as rising oil prices pushed its stock higher for a total market cap of $2.426 trillion.
Aramco’s daily average during the first quarter stood at 13 million barrels of oil equivalent. Saudi Arabia is one of only two OPEC members with the spare capacity to boost oil production considerably, but it has so far refused to do so despite numerous pleas from importing countries.
Chief Executive and President Amin Nasser said, “Energy security is vital and we are investing for the long term, expanding our oil and gas production capacity to meet anticipated demand growth and creating long-term shareholder value by capitalizing on our low lifting cost, low upstream carbon intensity, and integrated downstream business.”
