Saudi Arabia’s state oil company reported a 26% jump in profits in its first quarter as its east-west pipeline allowed it to ship millions of barrels of oil out of the Gulf despite conflict in the Middle East.
Profits at Saudi Aramco hit $33.6bn (£26.9bn) in the first three months of the year, while revenue rose nearly 7% compared with a year earlier to $115.5bn.
The boost in profits came even as Aramco grappled with attacks on its infrastructure and a halt to exports through its Gulf ports.
Amin Nasser, the company’s president and chief executive, said: “Our east-west pipeline, which reached its maximum capacity of 7m barrels of oil per day, has proven itself to be a critical supply artery, helping to mitigate the impact of a global energy shock and providing relief to customers affected by shipping constraints in the strait of Hormuz.”
The strait, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply normally passes, has in effect been closed since the start of the US-Iran war in late February. Aramco’s east-west pipeline allows it to ship oil from its east coast to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Disruption in the strait has triggered a spike in global energy prices, with Brent crude – the international benchmark – trading at about $100 a barrel, about 40% higher than before the conflict.
Nasser, who previously warned that the continued blockade of the strait of Hormuz would be a “catastrophe” for global oil markets, said it would take months for the market to return to normal even if the strait reopened immediately.
“If trade flows resume immediately or today through the strait of Hormuz, it will take a few months for the oil market to rebalance,” he wrote in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “But if trade and shipping remain curtailed by more than a few weeks from today, we anticipate the supply disruption to persist and the market to normalise only in 2027.”
His comments come as the US awaits a response from Iran to its proposals for an interim deal to end the conflict. In recent days there has been fighting in and around the strait, after Donald Trump’s announcement and then pause of a naval mission aimed at opening the waterway.
Aramco said it would maintain its quarterly dividend at $21.9bn, after increasing the payout by 3.5% at the end of last year.
Saudi Arabia relies heavily on Aramco’s dividends to fund domestic spending. The government directly owns more than 80% of the business, while its sovereign investor, the Public Investment Fund, holds 16%.
Aramco, which is headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, employs more than 76,000 people globally and is one of the biggest businesses and oil producers in the world.
