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
28 March 2024
The country’s largest gas field is a bright spot for the North Sea, boasting cleaner operations amid a changing mood in Europe over hydrocarbons
28 March 2024
Whether OPEC+ starts to unwind its oil production cuts from June will depend on heavily debated unfolding supply-demand balances
28 March 2024
As a gas supply shortfall looms, balancing regulatory flexibility with energy security and investor confidence will be critical
27 March 2024
Oil producers have to untangle the increasingly complicated relationship with their natural resources