Saudi Aramco Says Ras Tanura Refinery Restarts After Drone Attack — Update

By Adam Whittaker

Saudi Arabia's national oil company said its Ras Tanura refinery was restarting after an Iranian drone attack last week led to a shutdown, as the energy giant outlined plans to boost payouts to shareholders.

Saudi Aramco said Tuesday that all production areas were safe and that its Ras Tanura complex--home to an oil refinery and a large offshore oil-loading facility--was starting up following a precautionary shutdown.

Oil markets have been on a wild ride in recent days due to the conflict in the Middle East, with volatility spiking Monday as crude prices first surged and then pulled back.

Higher oil prices are expected to offer an earnings tailwind to Aramco and other oil producers, but the extent to which they are able to benefit depends on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway that sees around 20% of the world's oil and gas pass through each day, and which has been effectively closed since the start of the conflict.

Aramco is rerouting more of its crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to bypass the Strait, but this will only be able to partially offset the disruption to its traditional export route, analysts have said.

The company said Tuesday that it has a long track record of dealing with complex challenges, as it reported fourth-quarter results that showed a decline in net profit. It also said it would buy back up to $3 billion of shares over the next 18 months, on top of an increased quarterly dividend.

The buyback is Aramco's first and comes as some of its peers are cutting, and even halting, their stock repurchases. Traditionally, the company has favored dividends as a means of returning cash to shareholders, and said it would increase its quarterly base dividend by 3.5% on the same period a year prior to $21.89 billion.

Net profit for the fourth quarter fell to $17.77 billion from $22.34 billion in the same period a year prior. The slide came as its average price of crude oil declined to $64.1 a barrel from $73.1 a barrel. On an adjusted basis, net income came in at $25.06 billion versus $25.55 billion the year before.

Write to Adam Whittaker at adam.whittaker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 10, 2026 04:49 ET (08:49 GMT)