Saudi Aramco has financial strength to invest in expansion, downstream strategy: official

Saudi Aramco has the financial strength to accelerate its downstream strategy by continuing to invest in the petrochemicals market despite the impact of COVID-19 on global economies, Abdulaziz Al-Gudaimi, Senior Vice President of Downstream, told Alarabiya.

The integration of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC)’s existing downstream abilities and Aramco, the world’s biggest producer of oil, will create significant opportunities for the combined firm, Al-Gudaimi explained.

“SABIC brings us a number of key attributes, including world-class expertise, access to growth product areas and markets as well as scale in key product areas,” he said.

Al-Gudaimi expects the share acquisition to be a major step forward in accelerating Aramco’s downstream strategy, a key pillar in its growth ambition, by accessing the petrochemicals market, the fastest-growing sector of oil demand.

“We expect long-term demand for petrochemicals to grow, with the sector expected to record the fastest growth in oil demand to 2040,” he noted.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Aramco recently announced the completion of acquisition of a 70% stake in SABIC from the Public Investment Fund for SAR 259.125 billion.