Adjusted net income rose to US$33.4 billion, from US$25.2 billion a year earlier, according to a statement Tuesday. That beat analysts’ profit estimates of US$31.1 billion compiled by Bloomberg.

Benchmark Brent crude averaged almost US$97 a barrel during the quarter, as the closure of Hormuz caused the biggest oil supply disruption in history. That generated windfall profits for Aramco as it redirected most exports to the Red Sea, but now it faces further risks as Yemen’s Houthi group threatens to attack tankers using that route.   

State-controlled Aramco has also been benefitting from surging prices of oil products such as diesel and jet fuel, which have frequently outstripped gains in crude. Even when Brent fell back below US$75 a barrel following an interim US-Iran peace deal, product prices stayed elevated.

Aramco, which operates refineries along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, has previously said it was maximising such fuel exports to take advantage of higher prices and margins.

Those shipments are increasingly at risk as the Houthi militants attack vessels, opening up a new front in the war and threatening millions of barrels of Saudi crude and products. Severe and prolonged disruptions to Red Sea supplies would rock the market further, pushing prices higher as maritime traffic via Hormuz remains severely constrained.

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