Riyadh / Tariq Khalid / Anatolia

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company,’s net profit rose 81.8 percent to 148.03 billion riyals ($ 39.47 billion) in the first quarter of this year.

On Sunday, Saudi Aramco reported a net profit of 81.44 billion riyals ($ 21.72 billion) for the same period of 2021, according to a company statement on the local stock exchange website.

The company attributed the rise in profit to higher crude oil prices and sales volume and improvement in the profit margins of the refining, processing and marketing sectors.

As Russia is the second largest oil producer and exporter in the world, oil prices soared in the first quarter of this year due to the Russo-Ukrainian war.

The company reported a cash dividend of 70.33 billion riyals ($ 18.76 billion) for its shareholders in the first quarter to 0.352 riyals per share.

The Saudi government listed shares of the company on December 10, 2019, after giving the public a stake in the largest initial public offering in history, which raised $ 25.6 billion, surpassing the Chinese company Alibaba.

The move by the Saudi government is part of its economic reform plan, launched in 2016 and includes the sale of a number of government assets and the subscription of several government agencies.

Commenting on the results, Saudi Aramco Chairman and CEO Amin Nasser said: “The first quarter profit is the strongest quarterly profit from the company’s initial public offering in 2019. In fact, it is one of the strongest quarterly gains worldwide.”

“Given the critical importance of energy security, the company is making long-term investments, creating long-term value for its shareholders and increasing its oil and gas production capacity to meet expected growth.”

Al-Nasser continued, “The company has made progress in the first quarter with its expansion strategy in the refining, processing and marketing sectors, strengthening its business and investments in Asia and Europe.”

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