Petro Rabigh aims to raise production capacity to 400,000 bpd: CEO

The planned expansion aligns with the Kingdom's ongoing energy infrastructure development and the increased capacity of the East-West Pipeline.

In an interview with Al Arabiya TV, Al-Ghamdi said the East-West Pipeline strengthens crude supply to Saudi Arabia's western coast, while its expanded capacity supports domestic industries and enhances the Kingdom's infrastructure and logistics competitiveness.

This has enabled companies, including Petro Rabigh, to maintain operations and meet customer commitments even under challenging conditions.

Commenting on the company's Q2 2026 financial results, Al-Ghamdi said the performance reflected a significant improvement in operational efficiency following the completion of the comprehensive maintenance turnaround.

He added that the company's transformation program also contributed positively to the results.

He noted that a year-on-year (YoY) comparison does not accurately reflect Petro Rabigh's operating performance because the complex was fully shut down for scheduled maintenance in Q2 2025.

A more meaningful comparison is with Q1 2026, when the company's sales increased 37% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), boosting net profit.

Al-Ghamdi added that the company's performance is no longer driven solely by crude oil prices, but increasingly by refining and petrochemical margins, operational efficiency, production levels, and supply-demand dynamics.

He said the transformation program has focused on improving operational reliability, enhancing efficiency, and maximizing value from every barrel processed, making the company's performance less vulnerable to market volatility and more closely tied to operational and production efficiency.

Regarding the impact of the war on transportation and insurance costs, Al-Ghamdi said shipping and insurance costs increased during the crisis, although the impact varied by product.

He noted that shipping costs for polymer products remained largely stable.

He also added that container insurance costs surged from around $500 to nearly $3,000 per container, while shipping costs for liquid products rose by 50% to 100%.

Despite these challenges, Al-Ghamdi said Petro Rabigh successfully managed its supply chain, maintained uninterrupted export operations, and fulfilled all of its customer commitments.

According to data available with Argaam, Petro Rabigh reported a net profit of SAR 4.13 billion in H1 2026, against a loss of SAR 2.06 billion in the same period last year. Q2 2026 net profit stood at SAR 2.66 billion.