HOUSTON — The Saudi national oil company is making a bid to significantly expand its operations in the United States at a critical moment in the always uneasy relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, via New York Times.
The company, Saudi Aramco, aims to strengthen its position on the Gulf of Mexico coast by buying a large oil refinery in the Houston Ship Channel that LyondellBasell is putting up for sale.
And despite geopolitical tensions between Riyadh and Washington, Saudi Aramco sees the potential acquisition as a way to shore up its exports at a time of erosion in the oil business on which the Saudi economy is still largely reliant. Because of plunging prices, the value of Saudi oil sales has shrunk in recent years. And Saudi Arabia’s archrival, Iran, is becoming a more potent commercial competitor now that it is exporting substantial quantities of crude.
Four years ago Saudi Aramco completed a $10 billion expansion of a giant oil refinery in Port Arthur, Tex., in a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell called Motiva Enterprises. The converted plant is now the biggest producer of gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products in the United States.
