Aramco profits hit three-year high with record quarterly jump

• Q1 net profits surge on exports
• Saudi oil company issues dividends
• Employee share plan buyback announced

Saudi Aramco reported its largest quarterly rise in net profit on record in the first quarter of the year, helped by higher oil prices and an increase in crude exports via the Red Sea.

Net profit jumped by 73 percent from the fourth quarter of 2025 to SAR120 billion ($32 billion), its highest quarterly profit since 2023, according to a first quarter earnings report released on Sunday.

“Aramco’s first quarter performance reflects strong resilience and operational flexibility in a complex geopolitical environment,” said president and CEO Amin Nasser in a statement accompanying the earnings report.

Aramco/Media gallery

It marked a sharp turnaround from the fourth quarter of 2025, when Aramco reported its lowest profits since Covid-19 because oil prices slumped.

The company’s quarterly profit had fallen year on year for 11 straight quarters, AGBI research had previously shown.

Saudi Arabia’s ability to export throughout the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane through which Aramco typically exports the bulk of its crude, was made possible by the East-West pipeline.

This route can carry 7 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from the west coast to ports on the Red Sea. It has allowed Saudi Arabia to bypass the Arabian Gulf and export as much as 5 million bpd, the state oil company has said.

“[The pipeline] has proven itself to be a critical supply artery,” Nasser said, “helping to mitigate the impact of a global energy shock and providing relief to customers affected by shipping constraints in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Further reading:

• Aramco shares rise against background of Iran conflict
• Foreign investors pile into Saudi stocks as UAE outflows persist
• Aramco’s Luberef pays over $200m in dividends for 2025

Aramco announced the issuance of $21.9 billion of dividends at SAR 0.3393 per share.

It also said it would buy back 350 million shares “for the purpose of allocation to the employee share plan,” it said.

Several Gulf oil companies have turned to share buybacks since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Aramco is expected to provide more information on its first quarter earnings during an analyst call on Monday.