Saudi Aramco is seeking access to strategic oil storage held by foreign governments and aims to double its storage capacity abroad, particularly in Asia, President and Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said on Thursday.
“Commercial storage available through partners is limited. The larger capacity lies in what we call strategic storage owned by governments,” Nasser said in an interview with Al Arabiya, Bloomberg News reported. “The Ministry of Energy is working with its counterparts in other countries to make strategic storage available for Aramco.”
Aramco already holds commercial oil storage in South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands and at Sidi Kerir, Egypt’s Mediterranean export terminal. Nasser did not give a timetable for the expansion or disclose current capacity.
He said Aramco is running engineering studies for new export routes and working to raise the capacity of its East-West pipeline to 10 million barrels a day from 7 million.
Aramco has three export routes, Nasser said: the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, and Sidi Kerir.
Global markets have lost around 3 billion barrels of oil supply since the crisis began, and inventories were already below required levels when the disruption started, he said, according to Saudi business news site Maaal.
Nasser said the second phase of the Jafurah gas project remains on schedule for completion in 2027. Aramco aims to raise gas production by 80% between 2021 and 2030, he said.
The comments follow Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure, including a deadly incident at Aramco’s Shaybah oil field. Brent crude climbed above $112 a barrel on Thursday, Bloomberg reported.
