The oil major saw a 124-percent profit surge in 2021 RIYADH: Saudi Aramco seeks to boost its spending target to $40-50 billion this year, after wrapping up 2021 with double profits and as oil prices continue to soar. The oil giant’s capital expenditure in 2021 was $31.9 billion, 18 percent higher than 2020, it said in a bourse filing. “We expect that profile to increase over the following couple of years peaking around the middle of the decade,” said Aramco’s CEO, Amin Nasser. He added that “the majority of our capital is for upstream” as the firm aims to raise crude oil’s maximum sustainable capacity to 13 million barrels per day by 2027 as well as increase gas production by over 50 percent by 2030. Nasser noted the role of this move is “to maximize value to the Kingdom and to Saudi Aramco over the long term.” The company, which holds the second-largest market value globally of $2.3 trillion as of Mar. 20, saw a 124-percent profit surge in 2021, topping the average of analysts’ expectations. Profits reached SR412 billion ($110 billion), compared to SR183 billion a year earlier. While Aramco kept annual cash dividends unchanged from a year earlier at $75 billion, it said it will grant one bonus share for every ten shares owned by shareholders. The oil giant benefited from rising oil prices which continue to soar to date and traded this year at levels not seen since 2014.