Luberef CEO: Base oil crack spreads rose 9% in Q3 2025

Samer Al Hokail, CEO of Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co. (Luberef)

Samer Al Hokail, CEO of Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co. (Luberef), said base oil crack spreads reached about SAR 1,884 per metric ton in Q3 2025, up 9% from the same period in 2024 and 5% above the 10-year average.

Speaking to CNBC Arabia on the company’s financial results, Al Hokail said the increase in base oil crack spreads underpinned the company’s solid financial performance in the third quarter.

He said weaker crack spreads for secondary products were the main driver behind the nine-month earnings decline this year, but higher base oil crack spreads helped limit the drop to around 2% by the end of Q3 versus the year-earlier period.

Al Hokail said the company is focused on strengthening base oil crack spreads, which he described as the main driver of operational performance, adding that higher spreads support higher utilization of products and equipment—the company’s top priority. He added Luberef is continually exploring new opportunities to boost crack spreads for secondary products.

Luberef, he added, continues to implement a sustainable expansion plan driven by growing global demand for Group II and Group III base oils. The company’s first expansion project, launched in 2017, enabled it to produce nearly 900,000 metric tons of base oils.

The ongoing Yanbu expansion project will allow the company to expand its portfolio to produce base oils across all three groups by 2026, making it the first of its kind in the region.

According to Argaam data, Luberef’s net profit fell to SAR 745.5 million for the first nine months of 2025, from SAR 763.8 million in the same period last year, while Q3 profit increased more than 23% to nearly SAR 279 million.