Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco has gained total control of the
biggest oil refinery in the U.S., according to a statement by
Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell on Monday.
Shell and
Aramco formed a joint venture in 1998 called Motiva Enterprise, which
had refining operation with a 50-50 share basis since 2002.
The two companies finalized an agreement to separate the assets of Motiva in March.
As
of Monday, Aramco has assumed full ownership of the biggest refinery in
the U.S., Port Arthur in the state of Texas, which has a 600,000
barrels of refining capacity, and 24 distribution terminals on the
region, according to the Shell statement.
The Anglo-Dutch firm
assumed sole ownership of Norco and Convent refineries in the state of
Louisiana, and 11 distribution terminals, Shell said.
Saudi
Arabia, the world's biggest crude oil exporter, is looking ways into
diversifying its revenues from oil sales; and the U.S., which
represented 20 percent of global oil consumption in 2015, is considered a
major market for Aramco, according to experts.
The Kingdom
exported an average of 1.1 million barrels per day of crude to the U.S.
last year, coming second only behind Canada that exported an average of
3.3 million barrels a day of crude to its southern neighbor, according
to the U.S.' Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
(Anadolu Agency)