Saudi Aramco President and Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser announced the start of preliminary engineering work to expand the East-West Pipeline, as part of the company’s plans to increase the quantities of oil transported through its current infrastructure, evaluate alternative routes, in addition to studying increasing storage capabilities for crude oil in major demand centers and on export routes.
Al-Nasser said, during his speech in a press conference after announcing the company’s performance results and the repercussions of the regional conflict on oil markets, that “preliminary engineering work to expand the (East-West) pipeline has begun,” indicating that the company is working to increase the quantities transported through its current routes and infrastructure, in parallel with evaluating alternative routes.
Aramco announced an increase in its adjusted net profit by 9 percent on an annual basis to 117 billion riyals ($31.2 billion) in the third quarter of this year, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $30.66 billion.
Al-Nasser explained that the pipeline played an important role in providing additional options for exporting oil during the turmoil, adding that the company is also studying increasing storage capabilities for crude oil in major demand centers and on export routes.
He pointed out that the value of the long-term investment in the East-West line emerged during the current turmoil in the regional trade movement, saying that the company recovered the entire cost of constructing the line within about 15 days.
Production capacity
Regarding plans to enhance export and production capabilities, Al-Nasser said that Aramco is exploring additional oil export routes and storage capabilities outside the Kingdom. He added that the company is using its export terminals in the Gulf, in addition to ship-to-ship oil transfers, to deliver supplies to customers. He explained that the company is capable of increasing its maximum sustainable production capacity to exceed 12 million barrels per day, “if the government decides to do so.”
The largest supply shock in the energy industry
Al-Nasser described the regional conflict as causing “the largest supply shock our industry has ever witnessed,” adding that this led to unprecedented fluctuations and unrest. He said that Aramco continued to fulfill its obligations to its customers and stakeholders, by maximizing exports through multiple paths, accelerating the safe return of assets to service, and improving operations in its various integrated business sectors, while continuing to implement projects and maintaining the path of the growth strategy.
He thanked the company's employees, contractors and partners for the dedication, professionalism and ability to adapt during a period of uncertainty.
He explained that the company's flexibility during the crisis was based on a set of elements, the most important of which is long-term planning, which was embodied about five decades ago in the establishment of the "East-West" pipeline, planning for multiple scenarios, strong production and export infrastructure, engineering standards, workforce, local supply chain, and technical innovation.
He added that the company continued to operate complex and giant projects in accordance with international standards, safely and within specified timetables, in its various business sectors, despite the turmoil.
Increasing the production of the “Zuluf” field
In this context, Al-Nasser indicated the start of work to increase the production of the “Zuluf” field as planned, with the expectation of providing an additional production capacity of up to 600 thousand barrels per day by the end of the year, in addition to continuing to implement major projects to convert liquids into chemicals, inside and outside the Kingdom.
He said that these measures contributed to achieving strong operational and financial results, as liquids production increased by 15 percent compared to the previous quarter, while enhancing export volumes by taking advantage of different export paths and applying new methods to deliver products to customers.
He added that adjusted net income reached $31.2 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 9 percent year-on-year, with relative stability compared to the previous quarter.
He explained that the exploration and production sector achieved stable results, which reflected the continued strength of prices despite their decline compared to the previous quarter, while the adjusted profit before interest and taxes for the refining, processing and marketing sector increased by more than $4 billion compared to the previous quarter. He attributed this to the company's focus on asset availability and operational readiness, which allowed it to benefit from high refining margins.
He pointed out that the company's actions contributed to providing large quantities that global markets needed, and alleviating the impact, which could have been much more severe.
Ability to restore production within weeks
Al-Nasser said that supplies have become an indispensable factor, and that demand is still strong, adding that Aramco is able to increase production quickly. He said: “We are able to return to pre-conflict production levels within days, and reach our maximum sustainable production capacity of 12 million barrels per day in less than three weeks.” He added that this ability puts the company in a position to achieve significant financial gains.
The global market lost more than 3 billion barrels
In his review of market developments, Al-Nasser said that the global market has lost more than 3 billion barrels of oil liquids supplies since the start of the unrest. He explained that alternative flows, including exports via the East-West pipeline and withdrawals from strategic petroleum reserves, contributed to reducing the cumulative deficit to about two billion barrels.
He added that the remaining gap was compensated by managing demand and the large withdrawal from commercial stocks, noting that these measures saved some time, but “they do not represent a permanent solution.”
He said that the pressures of tight supplies have become more evident in the actual prices of oil, as buyers’ competition for immediately available barrels has led to actual prices rising above futures prices, and strong demand in light of limited supplies has pushed refining margins to record levels.
Oil stocks are at alarmingly low levels
Al-Nasser warned that global stocks of crude oil and petroleum products have reached alarmingly low levels, especially diesel stocks, noting that the expectation of an increase in demand for diesel during the fourth quarter, coinciding with the onset of the winter season, adds more pressure on the market.
He expected global demand for petroleum liquids to grow by about 2.4 million barrels per day in 2027, with demand management measures declining.
He added that the market will face, in addition to meeting additional demand, the challenge of rebuilding stocks that were depleted during the crisis, explaining that this will require additional quantities of oil to refill them and provide the necessary supplies to increase storage capabilities, a process that may take up to two years.
More than 90% of the replay materials are from within the Kingdom
Speaking about the company’s handling of the turmoil, Al-Nasser said that the challenges were great, but Aramco was able to deal with them thanks to the multiple options, speed, flexibility, and operational excellence.
He explained that the company's integrated and interconnected response center allows coordination between management teams and specialized multidisciplinary rapid assessment teams, which helps to quickly deal with events and disturbances.
He pointed out that flexibility was enhanced by the company's focus on developing a local supply chain in cooperation with its partners, which allowed vital equipment and materials to be purchased quickly or redirected to priority assets and projects when needed, ensuring the continuation of operations safely and reliably.
He said that the company's teams use drones for inspections and damage assessments in real time, allowing repair work to begin as soon as it is safe.
He added that more than 90 percent of the materials used to return operations to service were provided from within the Kingdom, noting that independent benchmark comparisons show Aramco’s ability to carry out emergency repair work at a speed exceeding the reference standard by about six times.
Capital investments
In terms of spending, Al-Nasser said that the company maintains its discipline in capital spending, while maintaining capital investment guidance for 2026 at a level ranging between 50 and 55 billion dollars.
He explained that these directives include the costs of returning assets to service, in addition to the cash investment of $2.6 billion in the “Human” company.
He pointed out that the return on average invested capital reached 22 percent, which reflects the quality of the company’s results.
“Aramco” invests $2.6 billion in “Humin”
In terms of artificial intelligence investments, Al-Nasser said that Aramco has been at the forefront of companies adopting world-class advanced technologies in the energy sector for decades.
He described the investment in Humane as “a fundamental transformation that enhances our competitive advantage and accelerates value creation through artificial intelligence.” He explained that Aramco acquired a 49 percent stake in the company, and invested about $2.6 billion as a cash contribution, in addition to transferring major assets in the field of artificial intelligence during the current year.
He added that Aramco's contribution to this investment includes providing world-class technical infrastructure, operational experience spanning more than 90 years, and low-cost, less carbon-intensive energy to meet the growing demand for energy needed to run artificial intelligence applications.
He said that the investment aims to find new sources of revenue with high profit margins, support growth, and enhance the company’s flexibility.
He pointed out that Humane offers an integrated platform for artificial intelligence that includes data centers, cloud systems, models, and live applications.
The company aims to provide a capacity of 3 gigawatts for artificial intelligence data centers by 2030, to meet local and international demand, with plans to transform into one of the main global exporters of artificial intelligence services.
