Saudi Arabia’s Petro Rabigh In The Money With Q1 Profit

1 May 2026 Issue: 69 / 18 By: Jamie Ingram

Most Middle East refineries have had to drastically cut run-rates due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Bucking the trend are Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea refineries, which have been able to capitalize on surging prices. Newly-restructured Petro Rabigh achieved its first quarterly profit in four years.

Saudi Arabia’s Petro Rabigh has benefitted from the market disruption caused by the Middle East conflict, and achieved its first quarterly profit since 2Q 2022 last quarter. The integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex’s location on the Red Sea, 160km south of Yanbu, means that operations have not been disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Petro Rabigh is a joint venture of Saudi Aramco (60%) and Japanese downstream company Sumitomo Chemical (15%), with 25% listed on the Tadawul exchange. The partners completed a major restructuring of the venture last year in which Aramco acquired 22.5% from Sumitomo as part of an agreement in which new capital was injected into the business and shareholder loans waived (MEES, 10 October 2025). (CONTINUED - 674 WORDS)