Aramco’s profit rises 25% as war disrupts shipping, company says
Aramco said its first-quarter profit increased 25% as the Iran war disrupted oil supplies and supported higher prices, even as the company sought ways to keep oil moving through alternate routes. In a statement, the Saudi state-owned producer said it managed the disruption by rerouting some exports away from the Strait of Hormuz.
The company said it shifted some exports to a pipeline that runs across Saudi Arabia, aiming to avoid the strait’s disruption amid the war. Aramco said its East-West Pipeline now operates at maximum capacity, reaching 7 million barrels of oil per day.
Aramco’s chief executive, Amin Nasser, said the pipeline was “helping to mitigate the impact of a global energy shock and providing relief to customers,” adding that the company was relying on domestic infrastructure and a global network to navigate disruption. He also described the broader significance of oil and gas for energy security and the global economy.
Aramco reported profit of $32.5 billion for the quarter ending March 31, up 25% from the same quarter a year earlier. The company also reported a 12% decline in annual profits in 2025.
For prices, Aramco pointed to Brent crude, the international benchmark, which it said rose 2.58% to $103.91 per barrel on Sunday. Aramco said that level was below peaks above $119 reached earlier during the war but still far above roughly $70 per barrel from late February before the fighting began.
Aramco said the Strait of Hormuz is central to global energy flows and that, before the war, 20% of the world’s traded oil typically passed through the waterway each day, along with supplies of natural gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products. The company said Iran effectively seized control of the critical waterway after the U.S. and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28, and that a U.S. naval blockade imposed last month also complicates its use.
Aramco said the pipeline capacity it has used is only part of its typical output, noting that it produced 11.1 million barrels of oil per day in the fourth quarter of 2025. It said its approach reflected a strategy to keep supplies flowing even as conflict disrupts shipping chokepoints.