Saudi Aramco profits jump despite damaging attacks on pipelines and refineries

For Saudi Aramco, the war in Iran has led to extraordinary disruptions to its exports and damaging direct attacks on its facilities. But this did not affect the company’s results.

The state-owned oil giant on Tuesday reported adjusted net profit of $31.2 billion between July and September, up 9 percent from the same period a year earlier. Revenue jumped more than 25% during that period, reaching $140.5 billion in the third quarter.

Aramco attributed its performance to the resilience of operations during disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war in Iran, now in its ninth month, as well as work to quickly recover from a series of drone and missile attacks by Iran-backed militants.

The company said the average price of its crude oil was $95 per barrel, 35% higher than a year ago.

The war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran caused oil prices to soar and led to an escalation of the campaign by Iranian-backed Houthi fighters against Saudi Arabia. Attacks on Riyadh’s international airport killed more than a dozen people, while missile strikes damaged Aramco’s headquarters in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran, two refineries and an oil processing facility at the Abqaiq oil field.

The attacks also jeopardized Saudi Arabia’s plans to diversify its economy beyond oil and derive more growth from tourism, sports and technology. Last month, the kingdom postponed its major investment conference, known as the Future Investment Initiative. On Tuesday, the 2027 Asian Cup, a football tournament scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia on January 7, was postponed for about a year.