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Clare Dunkley
3 December 2021
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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
China creates two-tier oil dynamic
25 July 2025
There is a bifurcation in the global oil market as China’s stockpiling contrasts with reduced inventories elsewhere
Trump’s Russia threat rings hollow
24 July 2025
The reaction to proposed sanctions on Russian oil buyers has been muted, suggesting trader fatigue with Trump’s frequent bold and erratic threats
US oil sector faces complicated path
24 July 2025
Trump energy policies and changing consumer trends to upend oil supply and demand
Brazil looks to solve its energy security travails
24 July 2025
Despite significant crude projections over the next five years, Latin America’s largest economy could be forced to start importing unless action is taken

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