Aramco invests up to US$1.6bil in S. Korea refiner Hyundai Oilbank

Boosting sales: An employee looks out over oil pipelines on the Arabian Sea at Saudi Aramco’s oil refinery and terminal in Ras Tanura. The latest deal should help Aramco boost crude oil sales to Hyundai Oilbank, South Korea’s smallest refiner by capacity. — Bloomberg

SEOUL: State-owned Saudi Aramco plans to invest up to US$1.6bil for a nearly 20% stake in South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank, expanding its foothold in one of its biggest Asian buyers of crude oil.

Saudi Aramco is already the biggest shareholder in South Korea’s No. 3 refiner, S-Oil Corp, with a 63.41% stake, and the latest deal should help Aramco boost crude oil sales to Hyundai Oilbank, South Korea’s smallest refiner by capacity.