State-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco reported an almost 82% rise in first-quarter net profit, which was in line with analyst forecasts, helped by strong oil prices.
Aramco, which is the world's most valuable company, reported a net income of $39.5 billion for the quarter to March 31 from $21.7 billion a year earlier.
The world's top oil exporter was expected to have net income of $38.5 billion, according to a median estimate from 12 analysts provided by the company.
Aramco, which sold a 1.7% stake to the Saudi public and regional institutions in the year 2019, said its earnings were the highest in any quarter since it went public, boosted by crude prices, volumes sold and improved downstream margins.
Earnings of global energy companies such as BP and Shell have gone up to their highest in a decade because of rising commodities prices, even as many of them incur mostly write-downs from exiting Russia.
Brent crude prices went up nearly 70% to $107.91 a barrel from March 2021, up almost 70% from the end of March 2021.
The month of September, OPEC agreed to a modest increase in its monthly oil output target, but it argued that it could not be blamed for disruptions to Russian supply that have caused prices to go up. It said China has been threatening the outlook for demand due to the coronaviruses lockdowns.
The company approved the distribution of one bonus share for every 10 shares held in the company, in line with market expectations, and declared a dividend of $18.8 billion in the second quarter.