Qatar Fuel made second-quarter net profits above 125 million riyals ($34.36 million), up from 111.46 million in the same period of last year.

Dlala Brokerage & Investment had forecast that Qatar Fuel would post a 14.5 per cent increase in second-quarter profits at 127.58 million riyals.

Qatar Fuel's first-half net profit rose 34.5 per cent to 258 million riyals from 192 million riyals in the same period of 2006, the official Qatar news agency quoted managing director Mohammed Turki Alsobai as saying.

It did not give specific figures for the second quarter of the year but Reuters calculations using company data showed second-quarter profits rose to over 125 million riyals.

Qatar Fuel said last month that rising fuel demand caused by increased vehicle imports was outpacing the capacity of the pipeline that supplies petrol to the state. Reuters