The rapid expansion of Saudi Aramco’s trading arm has seen a substantial increase in traded volumes across the board. Aramco Trading Co’s (ATC) newly released 2018 Annual Report highlights that traded volumes of liquids surged by more than 50% last year, and equally sizeable increases are probable for 2019.
The firm’s portfolio remains dominated by refined products, but last year saw it emerge as an increasingly active, albeit modest in scale, crude trader. Overall liquids volumes rose from 1.40mn b/d in 2017 to 2.17mn b/d in 2018 (see chart), and the firm says that it exited the year in excess of 4mn b/d. Volumes rose to 4.5mn b/d in 1Q 2019 and are planned to reach 6mn b/d by end-2020 (MEES, 7 June). (CONTINUED - 971 WORDS)
