Saudi Arabian Oil Company (2222.SR), known as Saudi Aramco, reported first-quarter 2026 net income of $32.14 billion on Sunday morning Riyadh time, beating the $30.2 billion analyst consensus by 6.4% and rising 21.6% year-on-year. Free cash flow reached $24.8 billion, supporting the company's quarterly base dividend of $20.3 billion plus a $9.4 billion performance-linked dividend — the largest combined payout in two years. The shares opened 1.6% higher at SAR 33.20 on Tadawul.
Average realized crude price during the quarter was $89.40 per barrel — up from $76.20 in Q1 2025 — reflecting the elevated Brent backdrop following the March 1 outbreak of the Iran conflict and the May OPEC+ supply discipline maintenance. Hydrocarbon production averaged 12.62 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, broadly flat sequentially. The downstream segment generated EBITDA of $4.8 billion (+38% YoY) on widened crack spreads.
Record Capex Programme
The board confirmed a $115 billion full-year 2026 capex programme — the highest in Aramco's corporate history and 8.5% above 2025 actual spending. The allocation breaks down as: $52 billion upstream (Jafurah unconventional gas, Marjan-3 expansion, Zuluf full-field development), $34 billion downstream (Yanbu chemicals expansion, Ras Al Khair complex Phase 4), and $29 billion strategic and new-energy (the disclosed but undisclosed-in-detail Saudi-PIF Humain AI infrastructure co-investment, Lucid Motors capacity expansion, and $4.2 billion of disclosed renewables).
Refining and Petrochemical Margin
Aramco's downstream division benefited from elevated middle-distillate margins — average jet fuel cracks at $26.40 per barrel in the quarter and gasoil cracks at $24.80, both well above multi-year averages — driven by Iran-conflict-induced re-routing demands and the spring refinery maintenance season in Asia. The Sasref and Yanbu joint-venture refineries were operating at 97% utilization. Petrochemical EBITDA margin expanded to 19.2% from 14.6% year-on-year.
OPEC+ and Market Implications
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told reporters that the 410,000 bpd OPEC+ production hike approved May 1 'was calibrated to balance market needs against the desire to maintain the quota framework's structural integrity through 2026.' He emphasized that Aramco's spare capacity — at approximately 3.0 million bpd — provides 'meaningful crisis-buffer optionality.' OPEC+ next meets June 5 for the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee.