Saudi Aramco, the giant oil producer, said on Sunday that its second-quarter profit jumped 90 percent over the same period a year ago, reaching $48.2 billion. It is the latest energy producer to report bumper earnings on the back of a surge in the price of oil.Aramco, the national oil company for Saudi Arabia, said its earnings reflected increased demand for crude and higher refining profits. And the state-run company predicted that demand for oil would continue to grow through the rest of the decade.The company has benefited from the growing need for energy as economic activity across the globe has picked up after the coronavirus pandemic dampened demand.But oil producers are also profiting from the surge in prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.From late February through June, crude oil prices rose more than 36 percent, to nearly $120 a barrel, pushed in part by Western sanctions used to punish Russia. In recent weeks, major oil companies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, …
