Saudi Aramco completes acquisition of downstream assets in Poland

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) has closed three landmark transactions with Polish refiner and fuel retailer PKN ORLEN, through its subsidiary Aramco Overseas Company BV, based in the Netherlands.

As part of the transaction, which was first announced in January 2022, the company acquired equity stakes of 30% in a 210,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Gdansk; 100% in an associated wholesale business; and 50% in a plane fuel marketing joint venture with BP Europa SE, which operates in seven airports in Poland, following PKN ORLEN’s merger with Grupa LOTOS.

The agreements represent a significant milestone in Aramco’s long-term strategy to grow its integrated refining and petrochemicals capacity, and expand its product portfolio across the entire hydrocarbon value chain. The transactions also seek to establish a solid foundation for further business development, and aim to complement Aramco’s strategy to expand its liquids to chemicals capacity to up to 4 million barrels per day. 

“These investments are part of our efforts towards cementing Aramco’s presence in a key European market, and provide a unique opportunity to develop new liquids to chemicals pathways, with hopes of expanding our global downstream footprint and supporting the diversification of our portfolio. At the same time, we aspire to continue developing our product portfolio through our ongoing downstream transformation strategy,” said Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, Aramco senior vice president of Downstream.

“These transactions are of strategic importance in further strengthening energy supplies, not only in Poland but for the entire region. We have built the largest company in Central Europe with a diversified portfolio of assets that will effectively strengthen current business lines and develop new ones. This creates new growth opportunities to allow us to continue to expand in prospective and high-margin products,” said Daniel Obajtek, president of the PKN ORLEN Management Board.

Aramco and PKN ORLEN have also entered into a crude oil sales agreement, pursuant to which Aramco will supply approximately 45% of PKN ORLEN’s crude oil requirements. In addition to the investments, Aramco, SABIC and PKN ORLEN have signed a joint development agreement to assess the technical and economic feasibility of a potential petrochemical project in Gdansk.