DNA
DUBAI: Saudi oil giant Aramco reported a 44 percent increase in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday, shipments to avoid the war-hit Strait of Hormuz.
The world’s top oil exporter posted net profit of $32.69 billion in the three months ended June 30, compared with $22.67 billion a year earlier.
“Despite the unprecedented supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, we continued to demonstrate our ability to maintain business continuity by capitalizing on our diverse asset base and multi-decade planning,” CEO Amin Nasser said, citing the East-West Pipeline, Aramco’s storage capacity and its export terminals as it reaped higher prices for crude oil, refined products and chemicals while forced to reroute.
Aramco said it maintained a supply reliability rate of 98.4 percent during the quarter despite continued geopolitical uncertainty in the region.
The company has ramped up exports through the East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu since the US-Israeli war with Iran triggered the biggest disruption in the history of energy markets. Nasser has previously described the route as a critical lifeline.
But that alternative route and Saudi export terminals on the Red Sea have now also come under threat. In July, Iran-aligned Houthi forces announced a blockade of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry in the Red Sea, extending the disruption to a second major waterway and pushing oil prices higher.
