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.

The prime mover, of course, was the rising oil prices. Brent crude prices averaged $42 per barrel in 2020. In 2021, it was $71. In the first three months of 2022, it evened out at $ 92. Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production will be more than 10 million barrels per day, or bpd, resulting in a much higher net income for Saudi Aramco in 2022 if things remain unchanged.

Since Saudi Aramco started publishing its financials in 2018, the company has achieved higher revenues and been more profitable than the combined turnover of the five largest international oil companies, or IOCs.

Saudi Aramco’s net income for 2021 was more than the total net income of $82.2 billion achieved by the major five IOCs. ExxonMobil clocked $23 billion, Royal Dutch Shell $19.3 billion, Chevron $15.6 billion, British Petroleum $7.6 billion, and TotalEnergies $16 billion.

Considering that IOCs had registered huge losses during 2020, Aramco achieved a net income of $49.07 billion that year compared to $88.2 billion in 2019. Moreover, because of the enormous losses the IOCs bore in 2020, they slashed the future upstream investments. Aramco, on the contrary, continued with its significant energy infrastructure investments, despite the low prices, emphasizing the primary role of Saudi Arabia as the only swing producer and the most reliable oil exporter.

In 2021 Saudi Aramco also trumped US multinational company Apple, which earned a net income of $94.68 billion, a 65 percent increase from 2020. Apple’s annual net income for 2020 was $57.4 billion.

In 2020, the year of the universal pandemic, the technology major outperformed against the oil giant. Apple paced ahead with a net income of $57.41 billion against Aramco’s net amid historically low prices. The result is more an exception than the rule because the latter had better returns than the former in the recent past. In 2018, the Saudi company reported an income of $111.1 billion against the technology major’s $59.53 billion. In 2019, Aramco booked a net income of $88.21 billion against Apple’s $55.26 billion.

Apple also had a category advantage to its credit. It enjoyed record sales of its devices and applications worldwide, while the state-run Saudi company faced acute pricing challenges. While companies such as Apple could set the prices of their products, the oil company couldn’t.

Saudi Aramco held its ground despite lower production of around eight million bpd in most of the first half of 2021 – the lowest level since 2008 – due to the one million bpd voluntarily output cut. These astonishing figures confirm Saudi Aramco’s place as the most profitable company, despite lower oil prices and refining margins in those years.

Aramco’s resilience in facing challenges with operational flexibility and financial agility means its investors are in safe hands and its customers enjoy the most reliable barrel, even during crises.

Their operational flexibility is also unique, allowing the world’s largest oil company to increase or decrease production as circumstances dictate rapidly. A case in point is when Saudi Aramco swiftly cut production from a historical peak of 12.3 million bpd in April 2020 to about 7.5 million bpd in June. Any other large producer would have taken more extended periods to adjust only 200,000 bpd.

• Faisal Faeq is an energy adviser and columnist. He formerly worked with Saudi Aramco and OPEC Secretariat. Twitter: @FaisalFaeq