Aramco to Restructure Downstream Business

Saudi Aramco announced plans on July 14 to reorganise its downstream business to support its global growth strategy, a process it expects to complete by the end of the year.

The Saudi oil giant intends to separate the business into four units: fuels, including refining, trading, retail and lubes, chemicals, power, and pipelines, distribution and terminals. 

"I am excited that we are launching a new operating model that we believe will help streamline our operations and reinforce our position as a major global energy and petrochemicals player," Aramco's downstream senior vice president, Abdulaziz al-Gudaimi, said in a statement. "This reorganisation is yet another step in Aramco's strategy to develop a global integrated downstream business that enhances our competitiveness by maximising our value capture across the hydrocarbon value chain."

Aramco is eager to build up its downstream operations to add value to its oil and gas resources, especially now that the amount of oil it can produce is limited under the Opec+ deal. As part of this strategy it recently bought Saudi petrochemicals giant Sabic for $69.1bn, and it also wants to double its refining capacity to 10mn b/d.