Saudi Aramco is the world’s most profitable company in the third quarter (July-September), beating tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Apple, as well as other listed energy companies such as ExxonMobil and Shell. Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil-exporting company, said on Sunday that its third-quarter profit more than doubled on higher oil prices and improved refining margins. Net profit in the three-month period to the end of September increased to $30.43 billion, from $11.8bn in the same period a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing to the Tadawul stock exchange, where its shares are traded. The results beat the average $28.4bn estimate of four analysts polled by Reuters and exceeded the forecast of investment bank EFG-Hermes by 7 per cent. Net profit increased 19.5 percent from the second quarter of this year. Aramco said it will pay a third-quarter dividend of $18.8bn in the fourth quarter of the year. Oil prices have rallied this year amid a global energy crunch and rising demand. Brent, the international benchmark under which two thirds of the world’s oil is traded, has rallied about 62 per cent this year and ended trading at $83.70 on Friday. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, has increased about 73 per cent so far and ended trading last week at $83.57. Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser, said in a statement: “Our exceptional third quarter performance was a result of increased economic activity in key markets and a rebound in energy demand, as well as our unique low-cost position, our financial discipline and our proven ability to reliably deliver essential energy and chemical products to our customers.” “Some headwinds still exist for the global economy, partly due to supply chain bottlenecks, but we are optimistic that energy demand will remain healthy for the foreseeable future,” he added. “Looking ahead, we are maintaining our strategy to invest for the long term, and we will build on our track record of low-cost and low-carbon intensity performance to advance our recently announced ambition to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across our wholly-owned operated assets by 2050.”