Saudi oil giant lands £5bn boost from Iran energy shock
Saudi oil giant lands £5bn boost from Iran energy shock
Hannah BolandSun, May 10, 2026 at 1:40 PM UTC
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Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil company - Split Second Stock/iStock Editorial
Saudi Arabia’s state-owned energy giant has revealed a £5bn jump in profits after benefitting from soaring oil prices unleashed by the Iran war.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, said its earnings jumped more than a quarter in the first three months of the year to hit $33.6bn (£24.6bn). This was a £5bn rise from the same period a year earlier.
It comes after the Middle East conflict sent the price of oil and gas soaring, fuelled by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes.
Last month, Brent crude hit $126 a barrel, up from around $60 at the start of the year.
Saudi Aramco said it had been able to sidestep Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by using its east-west pipeline to ports in the Red Sea, allowing it to keep exporting oil out of the Gulf.
Amin Nasser, the president and chief executive of Saudi Aramco, said the pipeline had “proven itself to be a critical supply artery”, reaching its maximum capacity of seven million barrels of oil per day.
He said the conflict had, however, caused a wider crunch on supplies, saying the market “has been deprived of about one billion barrels of oil” since late February.
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The jump in profits at the Saudi company follows similar increases at rival oil giants. Late last month, FTSE 100 giant BP revealed profits rose to $3.2bn between January and March, compared with $1.4bn in 2025.
Last week, Shell said its earnings were up at $6.9bn from January to March this year, up from $3.3bn in the previous three months and 24pc higher than the same period a year earlier.
Naturalist and presenter Chris Packham accused oil giants of ‘burning up our one and only home’ - Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
The results have prompted accusations of profiteering as households brace for higher gas and electricity bills.
Chris Packham, an environmental campaigner, last week criticised Shell for “profiting from illegal wars and burning up our one and only home”.
This echoed criticism from Ed Miliband last month when he described BP’s profits as “morally and economically wrong” in a post on X.
BP claimed its higher earnings came from its global oil trading business where it bets on price swings caused by geopolitical events.
Shell said its profit increase was driven by its global trading capabilities, where its fleet delivers oil and gas to the highest bidders.
On Sunday, Saudi Aramco said its results reflected its “strong resilience and operational flexibility in a complex geopolitical environment”.
Source: “AOL Money”
