Saudi Aramco acquires 17% stake in South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank

Saudi Arabian state-run oil group Saudi Aramco has reached an agreement to acquire a 17% stake in the South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank for a total consideration of US$1.25bn. Hyundai Oilbank is an affiliate of the publicly traded Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings and operates a 650,000 bbl/d refining complex in the western coastal city of Daesan (South Korea). More specifically, the business portfolio of Hyundai Oilbank and its 5 affiliates entails oil refining, base oil, petrochemicals, and a network of gas stations. 

This acquisition will support Saudi Aramco's strategy to place its crude oil worldwide and will provide a dedicated outlet for its production to South Korea. Saudi Aramco is expanding its position in the Asian refining sector and plans to boost the processing capacity of its global refining network to 10 mb/d by 2030. By then, about half of the company's refining capacity could be located outside of Saudi Arabia. In China, Saudi Aramco signed an agreement to acquire a 9% stake in the Zhejiang Zhoushan greenfield refinery and petrochemical complex project in the city of Zhoushan, in Zhejiang; the refinery is currently being built and will have a processing capacity of 800,000 bbl/d. Saudi Aramco also agreed to form a joint venture (JV) with the Chinese company Norinco (China North Industries Corporation) and Panjin Sincen to jointly develop another 300,000 bbl/d refining and petrochemical complex in the city of Panjin, in Liaoning (northern China) as of 2024; Saudi Aramco will own 35% of the newly formed Huajin Aramco Petrochemical company.