Saudi Aramco sees profits surge 80% amid West's sanctions on Russia over Ukraine war

Oil giant Saudi Aramco said on Sunday that its profits soared more than 80% in the first three months of the year. As the West continues to curtail imports of Russian fuel, Saudi exporters are cashing on the volatility of the global markets. Notably, the kingdom’s overall GDP has also skyrocketed amidst the ongoing war, rising by 9.6% in the first quarter of this year. The monarchy owns a 98% stake in the company. 

Pertaining to its gigantic profits, the company overtook Apple Inc. as the world’s most valuable company last week. Formerly known as Saudi Arabian Oil Co., it showed a record net income of US$3.5 billion in the first quarter. The firm had reported US$21.7 billion during the same period last year. 

In a statement, the company’s President and CEO Amin H. Nasser said, “Against the backdrop of increased volatility in global markets, we remain focused on helping meet the world’s demand for energy that is reliable, affordable and increasingly sustainable,” adding that Aramco was in the midst of increasing its maximum production capacity to meet anticipated demand growth. He also credited the company’s allies in OPEC Plus-- a group consisting of 13 OPEC members and 10 of the world's major non-OPEC oil-exporting nations.

Ukraine reiterates demand for oil embargo

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to urge the European Union to ban Russian oil imports despite the fact that the EU proposed a Russian oil embargo in its latest sanctions package. Ukraine's President's Economic Adviser, Oleg Ustenko stated that the European Union's embargo on Russian oil imports must go into effect immediately because Ukraine "cannot afford to wait another six months" while Russia continues to murder its civilians.

In an interview with the international media outlet Project Syndicate, Ustenko stated that while Ukraine supports the European Commission's plan to halt Russian crude oil imports, delaying the implementation for six months is unacceptable. After all, the Russian Federation relies on energy income to fund its war force. He further said that Russia's energy exports bring in $1 billion every day, which pays for the missiles, guns and bombs. He went on to say that in light of the situation, Ukraine believes Europe must act quickly.

(Image: AP)