Environment & Energy | Friday 28 December, 2018 4:25 am |

Saudi Aramco is establishing a domestic fuel retailing subsidiary as part of the national oil company’s drive to expand beyond crude oil production into downstream businesses.
The new firm, Saudi Aramco Retail Co, will create a network of filling stations within Saudi Arabia to sell automotive fuels, Aramco said on Wednesday, without giving details of the size, cost or time-frame for the network.
In April, Aramco said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with French firm Total to evaluate the feasibility of jointly buying a retail service station network in Saudi Arabia.
But Wednesday’s statement did not mention Total or the possibility of buying existing stations. The new Saudi network will complement a global retail network which Aramco already operates through joint ventures, the company said.
In the long run, the new retail subsidiary could help Saudi authorities conduct an initial public offer of shares in Aramco.
Aramco is now focusing on a range of downstream projects, including the purchase of a major stake in petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries, which could boost its value and attractiveness to international investors, ultimately allowing the IPO to go ahead.
Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Higher Institute of Technology and Training and the Al-Ayoun Charitable Society for Social Services to establish a center for date products in Al-Ahsa Governorate, in the framework of the company’s ongoing efforts to empower local communities.
The MoU aims to establish a date products center that works to develop high quality products, such as molasses, date paste, and date sweets.
The material returns of these products far outweigh the direct selling of dates, which is positively reflected on the community. There are about 100 beneficiaries, where people with low incomes and special needs in the province will benefit from this center.
The center will support the beneficiaries by qualifying them to the highest standards and developing their capabilities in the fields of recycling, packaging and the marketing of dates.
Saudi Aramco Vice President, Nabeel Al-Jama’, said that this initiative is part of Saudi Aramco’s objectives to contribute to empowering the community through a series of community-based programs to support people in dire need to enable them to support themselves and their families.
“It also serves an estimated segment of the people of the province of Al-Ahsa by supplying jobs that provide them with sustainable financial income,” he said.
He added “the agreement will promote sustainability, citizenship and local added value and the company will continue to provide development projects that contribute to increasing GDP in partnership with private and government institutions.”
He also said the agreement will preserve natural resources and benefit from the competitive advantages of the Kingdom’s regions, inorder to develop them to benefit future generations.