Saudi Aramco subsidiary signs crude supply pact with Polish refiner

Aramco Trading, the trading subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, on Thursday signed an agreement for the supply of Arabian crude oil to Poland’s PKN Orlen, in exchange for a similar volume of high sulfur fuel oil from the Polish refiner.

The agreement demonstrates Saudi Aramco’s strategy to place set volumes of crude oil across different geographies, maintaining a healthy balance between third party customers and affiliated outlets, the oil major said in a statement.

The move supports further expansion of the state oil major’s well established partnership and collaboration strategy while diversifying PKN’s crude oil supplies and securing new outlets for their products.

The increased European presence also positions Aramco favorably to supply critical feedstock to the European market.

In addition, the agreement consolidates the oil major’s efforts to earmark new strategic outlets for crude oil enabling it to accommodate a range of future market positions, as well as underpinning an optimal balance of geographic exposure between Asia, Europe, and North America.

PKN Orlen has a pre-existing crude oil supply agreement in place with Aramco Trading’s parent company, Saudi Aramco, which provides 74MBD Arabian crude oil to Poland’s premier refiner, the statement said.