It's an Oil Profit Bonanza for BP and Saudi Aramco, Too

Dow Jones08-04

The war in the Middle East is delivering bumper profits for oil companies.

Earnings in the S&P 500's energy sector are up more than 120% year-over-year in the second quarter, according to FactSet data. That's well above roughly 60% earnings growth for the S&P 500 on average. And today, Saudi Aramco, the world's top crude exporter, and BP both reported sharply higher earnings.

In the March-June quarter, which captures the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz that sent energy prices soaring:

-- Aramco's adjusted profit rose 33% to $33.4 billion. Higher crude prices and refining margins helped offset volumes, which fell as the war disrupted shipments through Hormuz and forced the company to reroute oil via its East-West Pipeline.

-- BP's profit metric (known as underlying replacement cost profit) more than doubled to $5.73 billion. Like Aramco, BP cited higher refining margins. But it also reported a jump in profits in the unit that houses its oil traders, who hedge the company's exposures and take speculative positions.

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