Markets
May 11, 2026
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Oil price records were shattered in the first quarter of 2026, and Saudi Aramco was sitting at the center of it all. The company reported adjusted net income of $33.6 billion for Q1 2026, up 26% year over year, comfortably beating analyst estimates of $31.2 billion. That works out to roughly $420 million in profit every single day. The Brent crude price surged 43% in March alone after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz following US and Israeli attacks on February 28, and Saudi Aramco earnings reflected that shock almost immediately.
The Iran war oil supply disruption also triggered what the International Energy Agency called the biggest single-country supply collapse in its recorded history, with Saudi output falling 30% from 10.4 million barrels per day to 7.25 million bpd. Aramco’s profits still beat expectations despite that drop, because the price of every barrel the company did manage to sell went through the roof.
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Saudi Aramco Earned $33.6B as Oil Output Collapsed 30% and Brent Hit $100
The Numbers Behind the Record Quarter
The Q1 profit of $33.6 billion was also a 34% increase quarter over quarter, compared to the $25.1 billion Aramco posted in Q4 2025. Total revenue for the quarter climbed to $115.49 billion, up 11.4% from the prior period. The company sold crude oil at $76.90 a barrel during Q1, up from $64.10 in the previous quarter and roughly in line with $76.30 a year earlier, which shows just how much the March price spike skewed the average upward.
The Brent crude price, the international benchmark for oil markets, closed above $101 a barrel by the end of the period. At the time of writing, it is sitting at $104.66, still well below its wartime high above $119 but also a very long way from the roughly $70 level it was trading at in late February before the conflict started.
The board also approved a base dividend of $21.9 billion for the quarter, a 3.5% increase year on year. Aramco treats that payout as a near-contractual commitment to shareholders and expects to maintain it even if quarterly cash flow tightens.
How Saudi Aramco Kept Exporting Through a War Zone
With the Strait of Hormuz restricted, Saudi Arabia rerouted shipments through its East-West Pipeline, a 1,200-kilometer link connecting oil fields in the Eastern Province to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The pipeline reached its maximum capacity of 7 million barrels per day during the first quarter, and crude exports were partially redirected through it to customers who could no longer receive Gulf shipments.
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said:
“Our East-West Pipeline, which reached its maximum capacity of 7.0 million barrels of oil per day, has proven itself to be a critical supply artery, helping to mitigate the impact of a global energy shock and providing relief to customers affected by shipping constraints in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The redirect worked, but only up to a point. Yanbu’s port capacity tops out at around 4.5 million bpd under normal conditions and closer to 4 million under wartime loading pressure. Before the war, Saudi Arabia was exporting roughly 7 million bpd through multiple Gulf terminals, and most of those terminals are now within range of Iranian missiles and have already been struck. Crude exports to Asia alone fell 38.6% month on month according to Kpler tracking data, and by the end of March Saudi shipments were running at around 70% of pre-war levels.
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$420 Million a Day While Output Fell Off a Cliff
The Iran war oil supply shock produced a situation that looks almost impossible on paper. Output is down 3.15 million barrels per day, the largest single-country production disruption the IEA has ever recorded. And yet Saudi Aramco earnings are up 26% year over year. The math behind it is fairly straightforward: the oil price rose faster than production fell, so profit per barrel improved sharply even as the total number of barrels going out the door dropped.
Before the conflict, the Brent crude price was hovering around $70 in late February. It peaked above $119 during the heaviest period of fighting and has since settled near $104, which is still 43% above where it was when the war started. That price move was enough to more than offset the volume losses at the corporate profit level, which is exactly what the Saudi Aramco earnings figures show.
Nasser also stated:
“Recent events have clearly demonstrated the vital contribution of oil and gas to energy security and the global economy, and are a stark reminder that reliable energy supply is critical. Despite these headwinds, Aramco remains focused on its strategic priorities and is leveraging both its domestic infrastructure and its global network to navigate disruption.”
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has resulted in the loss of nearly a billion barrels of oil globally, with the shortage compounding every day the sea lane stays closed. US and Israeli strikes triggered Iran’s response and shut down the waterway, which normally carries roughly 20% of the world’s daily traded oil along with large volumes of natural gas, fertilizer, and other petroleum products.
What the Rest of the Energy Market Is Saying
Olivier Le Peuch, CEO of oilfield services giant SLB, told investors on an earnings call that the disruption “has demonstrated the fragility of the global energy system.” He was one of several major oil and gas CEOs who addressed the longer-term consequences of the Iran war oil shock over the past two weeks of earnings calls, with a broad consensus that the world’s energy supply architecture would not look the same on the other side of this conflict.
Oil prices have held near $100 a barrel since the Strait restrictions began deepening what the IEA described as the biggest supply disruption in history. Western majors including ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP are also expected to post strong Q1 results on the back of the same oil price surge, though none of them face the production volume constraints Aramco is dealing with right now. Their upstream portfolios are spread across geographies that were not affected by the Hormuz closure, meaning their output held steady or even increased to fill some of the Saudi supply gap.
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How long the Strait of Hormuz stays restricted will determine whether the Brent crude price holds its current floor or starts giving back some of the war premium built into every barrel right now. The oil price has already come off its highs, and energy markets and governments alike are watching closely for any sign that shipments might resume at scale. For Saudi Aramco, every additional day above $100 adds another $420 million to the quarterly total.
