Riyadh, Aug 10 (IANS): Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, announced the dividend distribution of $18.75 billion to shareholders for the second quarter of 2020.

This dividend, up from 13.4 billion dollars for the same period of 2019, is paid despite global economic disruption and challenges facing the energy sector, Xinhua news agency quoted a company statement as saying on Sunday.

Highlighting Aramco's financial and operational resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of the Saudi company, said Aramco will continue to pursue long-term growth and diversification strategy to capture unachieved and additional value from "every produced hydrocarbon molecule".

Saudi Aramco hit a record net income of $6.6 billion for the second quarter and $23.2 billion for the first half of 2020, compared to $24.7 billion and $46.9 billion in the corresponding periods of 2019.

Aramco also achieved its highest single-day crude oil production of 12.1 million barrels on April 2, the company said.

The Saudi health ministry announced on Sunday the registration of 1,428 new coronavirus cases, raising the accumulated number in the kingdom to 288,690.

In addition, the recoveries increased to 252,039 after the registration of 1,599 new recovered cases, while the death toll rose to 3,167 with 37 new fatalities in the past 24 hours.