Saudi Aramco – which is the world’s biggest oil exporting company – is breaking into the new market just as buyers are clamouring for replacements for Russian barrels. West African crude is just one alternative to Russian supplies and is proving attractive because it is less sulphurous and dense than oil from the Middle East.
The Saudi giant has made inroads in recent months into Russia’s backyard with deals to supply Danish and Polish refiners, helping European countries wean themselves off Russian oil. Aramco Trading, which has been targeting volumes of 6 million barrels a day, is trading more third-party crude, barrels not pumped in Saudi Arabia. The company often processes those barrels in non-Saudi refineries and buys back the products for sale elsewhere.
Other major oil producers have mostly kept their trading units under wraps, wary of revealing the secrets of a significant source of profit. Energy companies in the Middle East have been taking advantage of a surge in oil prices to list assets as their governments seek to reduce their reliance on oil and draw in foreign investors.