The oil company Saudi Aramco has increased its profits significantly in the wake of the global economic recovery and rising oil prices.
The Saudi industry giant reported a surplus of $ 25.5 billion for the second quarter of 2021 on Sunday.
That is almost four times the level of the previous year: In the second quarter of 2020, the group had a profit of just $ 6.6 billion.
For the first half of the year, Aramco reports a surplus of 47.2 billion dollars - an increase of 103 percent compared to the same period last year (around 23.2 billion).
Most recently, profit in the first half of 2019 was in this range ($ 46.9 billion).
Like its competitors, Aramco is benefiting from a recovering economy around the world, leading to rising oil prices.
Oil prices are higher again, and demand has recovered, the group justified the profit increase.
The vaccination campaigns and the relaxation of the corona regulations also contributed to this.
The energy giant looks to the future with confidence: It is "extremely positive for the second half of 2021 and beyond," said the group's president and chairman, Amin Nassir.
"Even if there is still some uncertainty because of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 variants, we have shown that we can adapt quickly and effectively to changing market conditions."
Because of the price war on the oil market, the group had reported an annual profit of $ 49 billion in 2020.
Aramco also cut its investments, spending only $ 27 billion.
For the current year, the investments are expected to amount to around 35 billion dollars - originally, however, 40 to 45 billion dollars were forecast.