Aramco Trading Company, a subsidiary of oil giant Saudi Aramco, has started a Singapore office to market oil products, joining a growing number of companies setting up shop in the city-state, industry sources said. The firm has so far hired Nader Al-Arfaj from its parent company to head operations in the region and is in the process of building up a fuller team, one of the sources said.
The office is working to win new business for the parent company from Asia, the source added. There are no immediate plans to conduct trading from Singapore.
"It will provide marketing support for Saudi Aramco and will liaise with the trading headquarters in Dhahran," the source said, referring to a city in Saudi Arabia.
Aramco Trading Company could not immediately be reached for comment.
The firm has been trading higher volumes in derivatives markets from late last year as Saudi Arabia flipped from a net diesel importer to an exporter of the fuel with the start up of two mega refineries in the country, sources said.
It is also exploring new markets to sell its excess diesel while it steps up exports to Europe. The company has about 15 to 20 traders in Dhahran currently dealing oil products including naphtha, diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, fuel oil, sulphur and petroleum coke, the first source said.
Saudi Aramco has a separate company in Singapore, Aramco Asia Singapore, which was inaugurated in September, 2014 as part of an ongoing expansion in Asia. It has a total staff count of about 25 including five in the marketing team dealing with providing support for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and crude oil mainly for its customers and partners in Southeast Asia, India and Australia, a second source said. Al-Arfaj was also appointed as representative director of Aramco Asia Singapore in September, this year, replacing Fouad Al Rammah who has returned to the parent company, the source added.
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