Aramco Trading Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, has started a Singapore office to market oil products, Reuters reports.
Aramco joining a growing number of energy companies setting up shop in the city-state, industry sources told Reuters.
The firm has so far hired Nader Al-Arfaj from its parent company to head operations in the region and is in the process of building up a fuller team, one of the sources said.
The office is working to bag new business for the parent company from Saudi Arabia, the source added. There are no immediate plans to conduct trading from Singapore.
“It will provide marketing support for Saudi Aramco and will liaise with the trading headquarters in Dhahran,” the source said, referring to a city in Saudi Arabia.
The firm has been trading higher volumes in derivatives markets from late last year, as Saudi Arabia flipped from a net diesel importer to an exporter of the fuel with the starting of two mega refineries in the country, sources said.
It is also exploring new markets to sell its excess diesel while it steps up exports to Europe. The company has about 15 to 20 traders in Dhahran currently dealing in petrochemical products including naphtha, diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, fuel oil, sulphur and petroleum coke, the first source said.
Saudi Aramco has a separate company in Singapore, Aramco Asia Singapore, which was inaugurated in September, 2014 as part of an ongoing expansion in Asia.
It has a total staff count of about 25 including five in the marketing team dealing with providing support for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and crude oil mainly for its customers and partners in Southeast Asia, India and Australia, a second source said.
Al-Arfaj was also appointed as representative director of Aramco Asia Singapore in September, this year, replacing Fouad Al Rammah who has returned to the parent company, the source added.
Aramco Asia Singapore, whose Asian headquarters are in Beijing, also has offices in Shanghai and Xiamen in China, Tokyo in Japan and Seoul in South Korea, according to the company website.
Aramco’s presence in Singapore dates back to 1993, when a representative office was set up there.
