Aramco Trading swaps Saudi crude oil for refined fuels

Saudi Aramco’s trading unit started swapping the kingdom’s crude oil for products refined in other countries, according to its chief executive officer.

The company has swapped crude with refiners in the Mediterranean in return for products, Ibrahim Al-Buainain, the chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco Products Trading Co., said Wednesday by telephone, according to Bloomberg. The refined products have been sold in Europe, North Africa and the west coast of Saudi Arabia, and the aim is to do more, he said.

“In the Mediterranean, there is plenty of spare refining capacity,” Al-Buainain said. “That’s creating opportunities for trading.”

Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest crude exporter and the kingdom is preparing to sell shares in state energy producer Saudi Arabian Oil Co., also known as Aramco, in what could be the world’s biggest initial public offering. Aramco Trading previously bought and sold mostly fuel like gasoline or diesel and last year started trading crude produced by other countries.

Aramco Trading handles about 1.5 million barrels a day of refined fuels, and wants to increase that to more than 2 million barrels, Al-Buainain said in May. It also plans to buy crude from other producers to supply some of Saudi Aramco’s joint-venture refineries globally, he said Wednesday.