Saudi Arabian oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China’s Zhejiang Free Trade Zone – as part of which the Zhoushan Government committing its support to incentivise Saudi Aramco’s greater investment in Zhejiang’s future downstream growth – with the MoU expected to support Saudi Aramco’s strategy to expand in the Chinese energy sector.
Together with prior agreements signed during HRH Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s visit to China in February 2019, the MoU facilitates Saudi Aramco’s planned acquisition of a 9% stake in the Zhejiang integrated refinery and petrochemical complex.
In a statement, Saudi Aramco said the MoU would also include a long-term crude oil supply agreement and rights to use Zhejiang Petrochemical’s “large crude oil storage facility” to serve its customers in Asia.
The MoU was signed as part of a visit to Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran by Yuan Jiajun, Governor of the Chinese province of Zhejiang.
Saudi Aramco is involved in the 400,000 bpd refinery of Zhoushan Petrochemical Greenfield project’s Phase 3, and the MoU is expected to allow both parties to evaluate “potential opportunities for investment in other parts of the value chain”, such as refining and petrochemical production, storage and trade of crude oil and natural gas, retail, and the distribution of oil products within Zhejiang Free Trade Zone.
