Saudi Arabia on 18 January signed an MoU with the South African government under which respective state oil firms Aramco and PetroSA will study the feasibility of building a refinery and petrochemicals complex in South Africa. The site of the plant is “to be agreed upon between the two sides later on” according to official Saudi news agency SPA. Whether a South African refinery and petchems plant fits in with Aramco’s global downstream expansion plan, which includes projects in the US (MEES, 4 January) and Asia (MEES, 14 December 2018), is a moot point.
During a visit to Durban, however, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih and his South African counterpart Jeff Radebe also discussed the potential for Aramco to store crude oil at South Africa’s 45mn barrel Saldanha storage facility, 110km northwest of Cape Town. The South African Department of Energy says that Aramco’s use of the Saldanha storage offers a strategic storage and trading facility for Aramco. It could also improve the allure of a nearby Aramco downstream plant. (CONTINUED - 218 WORDS)