Aramco acquires 17% stake in South Korea’s Hyundai Oilbank

DHAHRAN / AGENCIES

Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco, has completed, through its subsidiary Aramco Overseas Company, the acquisition of 17 percent of Hyundai Oilbank from Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, for approximately $1.2 billion. The completion follows receipt of all necessary regulatory consents and approvals.
According to a statement issued by the company, the investment in South Korea’s Hyundai Oilbank supports Saudi Aramco’s downstream growth strategy of expanding its global footprint in key markets in profitable integrated refining, chemicals and marketing businesses which enable Saudi Aramco to place crude oil and leverage its trading capabilities.
Hyundai Oilbank is a private oil refining company established in 1964. The Daesan Complex, where Hyundai Oilbank’s major facilities are located, is a fully integrated refining plant with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. The business portfolio of Hyundai Oilbank and its five subsidiaries includes oil refining, base oil, petrochemicals and a network of gas stations.
Meanwhile, oil rose to a fresh three-month high above $60 a barrel on optimism the partial US-China trade pact will bolster demand, while analysts estimated a pullback in American crude stockpiles.
Futures gained 0.5% in New York after rising 2.5% over the previous three sessions. US stockpiles are projected to have declined by 1.75 million barrels last week, a Bloomberg survey showed.
While leaving most of the tariffs built up over the trade war in place, the partial deal has relieved investors worried about further escalation and driven gains across the commodity complex. It follows deeper-than-expected output cuts agreed by Opec+ earlier in the month, which Citigroup Inc. said will help keep a floor under prices and which allayed some of the concern that next year will see a renewed oversupply.