AlwaysFree: Surging Crude Oil Prices Hurt Saudi Aramco’s Downstream Businesses

Saudi Aramco’s net profit more than doubled to $30.4 billion for the third quarter of 2021, thanks to the surge in oil prices. However, the price rally also put pressure on the margins of the company’s downstream refining and chemical businesses. SABIC, in which Aramco holds a 70% stake, posted a profit before interest and tax of $4 billion in the quarter. That marked a swing from a loss of nearly $800 million a year earlier but dropped 13% from the prior quarter. That indicates margins for the downstream business were getting squeezed as prices of feedstocks like oil and gas continued to rise. Supply-chain bottlenecks and rising energy costs are expected to add pressure on margins through the rest of 2021, SABIC  said during its quarterly earnings call last week.