Aramco mulls refineries in China, Indonesia

Saudi Aramco chief executive Khalid Al-Falih said on Tuesday that the company's daily refining capacity would soon grow 50 percent from its current level to more than 6 million barrels per day.

That growth will be accomplished through two refineries under construction in Saudi Arabia and four more being considered in Jizan in the kingdom and projects in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, he said in remarks prepared for a morning lecture at the Korea Chamber of Commerce.

He also said Saudi Aramco's natural gas production capacity would grow within five years to 14 billion standard cubic feet per day (SCFD).

"The Far East is the destination for two out of every three barrels of crude oil that Saudi Aramco exports," said Al-Falih.

"Companies from Korea and other Asian nations are important suppliers of top quality goods, materials and services to our operations and we are seeing increasing volumes of foreign direct investment from Asia in the kingdom."

He also noted that Saudi Arabia would spend more than $450 billion on capital projects over the next five years, while Aramco will be spending a total capital budget of roughly $125 billion on domestic and global projects over the same period.

This spending covers upstream activities, including new crude oil increments, he said, adding that Aramco would soon expand and upgrade existing refining centres, without elaborating. More