Aramco acquires 10% stake in China’s Rongsheng for $3.4bn

Aramco

Saudi Aramco has completed the acquisition of a 10 percent stake in China’s Rongsheng Petrochemical Company Limited (Rongsheng) for $3.4 billion through its subsidiary Aramco Overseas Company BV, based in the Netherlands.

The acquisition follows the signing of definitive strategic agreements announced on March 27, 2023. 

The deal represents the continued growth of Aramco’s downstream presence in China. It includes the supply of 480,000 barrels per day of Arabian crude to the largest Chinese integrated refining and chemicals complex, owned by Rongsheng affiliate Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co. Ltd (ZPC).

Rongsheng chairman Li Shuirong added that the completion of the transaction signifies an important step forward in the company’s internationalisation strategy.

Rongsheng owns a 51 percent equity interest in ZPC, whose complex can process 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and produce 4.2 million metric tonnes of ethylene annually.

Saudi Aramco in March said it plans to construct a $10 billion integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in northeast China in the second quarter of 2023.

The Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (Hapco) joint venture is developing the complex, which will combine a 300,000 bpd refinery and a petrochemical plant with an annual production capacity of 1.65 million metric tonnes of ethylene and 2 million metric tonnes of paraxylene.