Saudi Aramco sets up fuel retail subsidiary as part of downstream business push

State-controlled Saudi Aramco has formed a fuel retailing unit through which the world’s top oil exporting company will create a network of petrol stations in the Arab World’s biggest economy as it looks to expand its downstream business.

The new wholly-owned subsidiary, Saudi Aramco Retail Company (RetailCo), will sell automotive fuel at its own network of petrol stations in a move that will open up a "new and stable" source of revenues for the national oil company, Aramco said yesterday. It did not provide a timeline, size or the value of the investment into the network.

"Integrating fully across the hydrocarbon value chain is key to capturing maximum value from our resources," said Abdulaziz Al Judaimi, Aramco's senior vice president of downstream.

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“It will leverage synergies in our business model and position us to actively participate in the customer-facing segment of the downstream value chain.”

The move is part of Aramco's overall strategy of further enhancing its crude production, increase its refining capacity and invest in its consumer-facing business.

Downstream is an industry term that refers to purifying oil extracted from the ground into crude grades that can be sold to oil markets.

Refineries separate unwanted elements such as sulphur and products including gasoline, petrol, kerosene, jet fuel as well as hundreds of petrochemicals, which are then marketed and distributed to the consumers.

RetailCo’s will take a “phased approach” to expand its network of domestic fuel retail stations to cover the kingdom, Saudi Aramco said.

The formation of the new unit is the start of a series of initiatives and deals for RetailCo to become a "full-fledged" fuel retail segment of Aramco, the company said.

Aramco is increasingly pivoting to grow its downstream business to reduce the risk of a slowdown in the demand for oil in the global markets.

The oil major has signed several deals in refining and petrochemicals sectors to secure new markets for its crude, expanding its footprint globally and boosting the capacity of its plants.

The move to sell fuel directly at its own network of domestic stations will allow Aramco to cater directly to consumers as part of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 programme to improve citizens’ standard of living, the company said.

Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

match info

Union Berlin 0

Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')

Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

The bio

Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.

Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.

Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.

Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.