Aramco plans to trade in non-Saudi crude oil: report

Saudi Aramco plans to expand its trading business by buying and selling non-Saudi crude, Bloomberg reported, citing Ibrahim Al-Buainain, chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco Products Trading Company.

The state-owned company is putting crude marketing and refined-product trading under one management, which will trade non-Saudi crude, helping Saudi Aramco supply refineries more efficiently and make more profit, he said.

“We’ll keep selling our own oil as normal, and we want to get into trading third-party crude,” said Al-Buainain, who will head the expanded unit.

The move comes as the kingdom prepares to sell about 5 percent of Aramco in an initial public offering (IPO) next year.

Aramco Trading will open an office in Singapore next week during an industry conference in the city-state. It also plans to expand its London office to better serve the northern European market, Al-Buainain said.