Boss Bernard Looney called BP PLC (LSE:BP.) a cash machine as he spoke about the amount of money the UK oil major was throwing off with crude trading at or around US$100 a barrel.
However, Saudi Aramco appears to be in a different league. It generated more than £3,300 in ‘free cash’ every second the company’s nodding donkeys were churning in the second quarter.
The Saudi giant, which is the world’s second-largest company behind Apple, reported a 90% year-on-year increase in profits to a record £39.8bn in the three months to June 30 2022.
This has prompted a cash giveaway of £15.5bn in dividends.
The conflict in Ukraine, which has seen Russia, a major producer of oil, ostracised from the rest of the world, has pushed crude prices to near unprecedented highs.
"While global market volatility and economic uncertainty remain, events during the first half of this year support our view that ongoing investment in our industry is essential both to help ensure markets remain well supplied and to facilitate an orderly energy transition," Aramco president and chief executive Amin Nasser said.
He added that he expected demand for oil to grow until the end of the decade.