The world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, reported $30.4 billion in third-quarter net income on Sunday, bolstered by a surge in oil prices and recovery in demand as the coronavirus pandemic eases.
Saudi Arabia’s majority state-owned oil giant Aramco said its net income more than doubled from $11.8 billion during the same three-month period a year earlier. Last year’s figure came after profits plunged dramatically as global lockdowns slammed oil prices. Net income refers to the amount left after taxes and preferred dividends have been paid.
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser described the company’s third-quarter results as “exceptional,” a result of “increased economic activity in key markets and a rebound in energy demand."
“We are optimistic that energy demand will remain healthy for the foreseeable future,” Nasser said.
“Looking ahead, we are maintaining our strategy to invest for the long term, and we will build on our track record of low-cost and low-carbon intensity performance to advance our recently announced ambition to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across our wholly-owned operated assets by 2050,” he added.
Aramco said it continues to invest for the future with capital expenditure of $7.6 billion in the third quarter, representing a 19% increase, compared with the same period in 2020.
"This increase was primarily due to ongoing crude oil increment and other development projects. Aramco maintains a flexible approach to capital allocation and continues to expect 2021 capital expenditure to be approximately $35 billion," it said in a statement.
