Aramco's Red Sea refining venture swung to a big quarterly profit, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz starves the world of fuel and lets refiners outside the Gulf sell at a premium.
Petro Rabigh made SR2.58 billion ($686 million) in the third quarter, against a loss of SR1.24 billion a year earlier, it said in a filing on Wednesday. Revenue rose 83% to SR16.8 billion.
Why it matters
Hormuz has been closed to commercial shipping since early March, cutting off fuel exports from refineries inside the Gulf.
Rabigh sits on the Red Sea coast, north of Jeddah, outside the strait. The company put its gains down to favourable markets and a global supply-demand imbalance. In plain terms: it is selling fuel into a short market, at higher prices, while running its plants harder.
What drove it
Fatter margins. Refined products sold for more, and margins widened.
More output. Higher operating rates lifted sales volumes.
Cheaper debt. Early repayment of long-term loans and lower benchmark rates cut finance costs.
An easy comparison. Last year's numbers were dragged down by a 60-day maintenance shutdown of the whole complex.
The turnaround
Petro Rabigh lost money for years. In October 2025, Aramco raised its stake to 60%, buying 22.5% from Japan's Sumitomo Chemical for $702 million, or SR7 a share.
The two partners also injected $1.4 billion of fresh capital and waived $1.5 billion of shareholder loans.
The bet is paying off. Nine-month profit reached SR6.7 billion, against a SR3.3 billion loss a year earlier. The shares traded at SR16.46 on Wednesday morning, more than double what Aramco paid.
What to watch
Profit slipped 3% from the second quarter, a hint that margins may have peaked.
Aramco has restarted its East-West pipeline and is offering Europe extra crude. Any easing of the squeeze, or a Hormuz reopening, would take pressure off the margins now powering Rabigh's profit.
The shares rose as much as 4.7% on Wednesday before paring gains.
