Saudi Aramco's trading arm is seeking to boost its traded volumes of crude and refined products by a third to 6 million b/d by 2022 as it hunts for more storage globally, the CEO of the division said on Monday.
Aramco Trading Co.'s current volumes average 4.5 million b/d of crude and refined products, Ibrahim al-Buainain told reporters at the company's headquarters in Dhahran.
Aramco Trading, which opened its second international office in Fujairah this year, said in a June statement it plans to trade 6 million b/d by 2021.
Aramco Trading was set up in 2012 to trade refined products and bulk petrochemicals as the state-owned oil company embarked on plans to boost its refining business. The state-run firm wants to ramp up its refining portfolio to up to 10 million b/d, the company's senior vice president for downstream said on Monday.
Now Aramco Trading is looking to beef up its storage capacity globally to bolster its operations.
The company is looking for blending facilities for bunker fuel in China and LNG storage in South Korea, Buainain said The company is also seeking to lease space around Rotterdam, which would be managed under Aramco Trading's London office, he added.
The company is trading fuel oil and gasoline in Fujairah and globally everything from jet fuel to diesel, he said.