State-owned oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zhejiang Free Trade Zone in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang province, China, according to a Sept. 5 release.
Alongside earlier agreements signed in February, the memorandum facilitates the state-owned oil giant's planned acquisition of a 9% interest in Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co. Ltd.'s 800,000 barrel per day integrated refinery and petrochemical complex, located in Zhoushan City. Saudi Aramco will participate in the project through a long-term crude oil supply agreement and will be able to use Zhejiang Petrochemical's large crude oil storage facility to serve its Asian customers.
Saudi Aramco said the agreement also solidifies its participation in a 400,000 bbl/d refinery from Phase III of the Zhoushan Petrochemical Greenfield project and allows the participants to explore further investments in other parts of the value chain.
