Saudi Aramco has once again returned to become one of the world’s most profitable oil firms with a net income of $110 billion in 2021 compared to $49.0 billion in 2020.

As expected, OPEC+ unanimously agreed to keep its output strategy unchanged and decided to continue with its plans of gradually increasing oil production by 400,000 barrels per day in April 2022.

It was an important day for the oil markets as the US announced to release millions of barrels of crude from its strategic petroleum reserves to try to check rising prices. 

The last few years have been tough on the global economy, mainly due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. But despite all the difficulties, Saudi Arabia has weathered the storm and managed to keep the national economy afloat.

The development of unconventional gas reserves in Al-Jafurah field will catapult Saudi Arabia to the forefront of global gas producers and help the Kingdom in its plans to diversify the economy.

Not only is Saudi Arabia bringing a new perspective to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, but it is leading by example as usual by hosting inaugural events in Riyadh a few days ahead of the conference.

The price of Brent Crude has hovered around the $70 per barrel mark for about three months. In July 2021, the price averaged $75, while in July 2020 it was $43 per barrel, meaning it saw a 60 percent increase in just one year.

The latest bearish developments in global oil markets invalidates the earlier requests from both the White House and the International Energy Agency (IEA) for OPEC+ to boost oil output.