Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 10 – Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) said on the 10th that due to rising oil prices triggered by the Iran conflict, its net profit for the first quarter of this year increased by 25.5% compared to the same period last year.
Saudi Aramco issued a statement on the same day stating that the company achieved a net profit of 120.13 billion Saudi riyals (approximately 32.04 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2026, compared to 95.68 billion Saudi riyals (approximately 25.51 billion U.S. dollars) in the same period last year. The statement said the increase in first-quarter net profit was mainly due to higher prices and sales volumes of crude oil, refined petroleum, and chemical products than in the previous period.
After the outbreak of the Iran conflict at the end of February this year, the Strait of Hormuz, which carries one-fifth of the world’s oil transportation, became “blocked,” triggering a rise in global oil prices. In early February this year, crude oil prices were over $60 per barrel, rising to over $100 per barrel by March. Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser said the first-quarter earnings reflected the company’s “resilience and operational flexibility in a complex geopolitical environment.” He said the company is leveraging its “domestic infrastructure and global network” to address the “disruptions” caused by the Iran conflict.
The Saudi Aramco statement said that in the first quarter, the volume of oil transported through Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline increased significantly, reaching its maximum capacity of 7 million barrels per day, to ensure oil exports from Saudi Arabia’s west coast.
Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil export company. After shipping through the Strait of Hormuz nearly came to a halt due to the conflict, the company maximized the use of the East-West Pipeline to export oil. This pipeline, construction of which began in the 1980s, starts from the oil-producing region in the eastern Persian Gulf of Saudi Arabia and ends at the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, with a total length of over 1,200 kilometers. Analysts believe that if oil prices remain at current levels, Saudi Aramco’s earnings will still grow in the second quarter of this year. (Yuan Yuan)
