Commerce reporter:
Saudi oil giant Aramco on Tuesday announced a 34.6 percent surge in third-quarter net profit, as the Middle East war keeps crude prices soaring while the kingdom’s energy infrastructure comes under regular attack.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have targeted Saudi tankers, pipelines, storage facilities and refineries regularly since hostilities resumed in July, intensifying their strikes in recent weeks.
The kingdom has also had to contend with the Houthis and Iran hampering traffic in the straits of Bab al-Mandeb and Hormuz, complicating exports.
Yet Aramco — the cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s economy and one of the world’s most valuable companies — saw its profits soar during the third quarter thanks in large part to stubbornly high oil prices.
The firm said net profit hit 135.9 billion riyals ($36.2 billion) in the third quarter, compared with around 101 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier.
The results come as energy majors around the world have seen earnings surge because of disruptions to oil and gas supplies in the Middle East, pushing up refining margins and prices.
But Aramco’s chief executive warned that the conflict continued to weigh heavily on energy security.
“Geopolitical uncertainty and attacks on key energy facilities continued to amplify the global energy supply crisis in the third quarter of 2026, with serious implications for global energy security,” president and CEO Amin H. Nasser said in a statement.
