Saudi Aramco is likely to place a high priority on its Asian downstream portfolio
Aramco back to petchems drawing board
The Saudi heavyweight’s international downstream expansion strategy will need another reboot
State-controlled oil behemoth Saudi Aramco has rarely felt the need to change course when plotting upstream expansion—given monopoly production from its extensive, low-cost reserves and significant price-setting power, even the Covid-19 pandemic applied only light brakes to its bullish plans. Its downstream strategy, by contrast, has long evolved in fits and starts, dependent at home and especially abroad on the whims of international partners, feedstock considerations and more diverse market dynamics. The late-November collapse of what would have been a landmark deal to acquire a 20pc stake in the oil-to-chemicals (OTC) unit of India’s Reliance Industries—owner of the globe’s biggest refini
Also in this section
24 March 2026
It is an unusual story of out with the new and in with the old, as America First Refining shows the US going back to trusted energy security developments
23 March 2026
A complex and sometimes contradictory web of factors that include unpredictable oil prices, the globalisation of LNG markets, the expansion of Middle Eastern sovereign capital and the growth of datacentre demand will shape the energy landscape beyond 2026
23 March 2026
The Strait of Hormuz crisis highlights how key waterways can become global chokepoints
20 March 2026
Attacks on key oil and LNG assets across the Gulf mean a prolonged supply disruption, with damage to Qatar’s export capacity undermining confidence in the global gas system
