Saudi Aramco reported a 35% rise in third-quarter net profit, to $36.3 billion from $26.9 billion in the same quarter a year earlier, Naharnet reported.
Adjusted net profit rose 9% to $31.2 billion. This figure excludes the sale of the company's stake in PRefChem to Malaysia's state oil company Petronas, according to Naharnet.
Naharnet reported that the growth was driven by higher oil prices, the PRefChem stake sale and strong margins at the company's refineries.
Aramco sold its oil at an average of $95.20 a barrel during the quarter, against $70.10 in the same quarter a year earlier, according to the company's news release, as cited by Naharnet.
Oil prices jumped after the Iran war broke out, because of supply disruption and uncertainty over how the conflict would develop, Naharnet reported.
The war began in February. Since then, Aramco has used its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to keep exporting a significant share of its oil, Naharnet reported. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted by the risk of Iranian attack.
The East-West pipeline was attacked on 10 September but has resumed flows, according to Naharnet. Saudi oil is now also shipped through the Strait of Hormuz using a U.S.-protected corridor near Oman's coast, the outlet reported.
Exports have continued despite attacks on Aramco facilities by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, Naharnet reported.
Aramco is a major source of revenue for the Saudi government, which is investing in projects to diversify the economy, according to Naharnet.
The report does not say who carried out the 10 September attack on the pipeline. It does not give the size of the PRefChem stake sale or its contribution to profit. It also does not quantify the share of exports kept up through the pipeline and the corridor.