OIL AND GAS in major markets in Asia and the United States , as the company is looking to secure highest financial returns from its IPO next year .
Although Aramco ’ s activities in the US are purely commercial , it could be understood as a sign of restored confidence between two countries which hit rock bottom during President Obama ’ s second term . It is believed that relations between the US and Saudi Arabia will further improve under Trump . This is despite some harsh rhetoric used during his presidential campaign when he mentioned the possibility to stop buying oil from Saudi Arabia unless the Kingdom provided ground troops to fight ISIS , calling on Saudis and other Gulf countries to compensate the United States for the enormous cost of providing them with military protection .
But nevertheless , Dr Tamimi does not expect this to have any impact on Saudi investments in the United States . For Jim Krane , energy analyst of Rice University ’ s Baker Institute , Houston , Saudi Arabia wants to remain relevant in the United States for commercial and strategic reasons . The Saudis need to continue placing crude cargoes into the US market , and also ensure that US troops protect the kingdom and its oil shipments .
“ Owning refineries and configuring them for Saudi crudes helps with both these goals . If Aramco owns the refinery , it can ensure that Americans continue to depend on Saudi oil , and hopefully , that Americans still see value in maintaining close ties with the kingdom ,” Krane said .
Security concerns But some say that Saudi ownership of the largest US refinery poses a security risk for the US , since according to some sources , 30 % of US refining assets are owned by foreign companies . So does the particular case of Port Arthur give the Saudis a powerful weapon when dealing with the US in the future ?
Firstly , this is not an entirely new practice as there is a track record of “ petro states ” owning US assets . Kloza noted that Venezuela ’ s stateowned oil and gas firn PDVSA and Citgo Petroleum Corp . ( CITGO ) are very much in the news these days , with the fear that Rosneft , the Russian company with close ties to Vladimir Putin , might take title to Citgo should Venezuela
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