Saudi Aramco announced on Wednesday the creation of the Saudi Aramco Retail Company (RetailCo), a wholly-owned subsidiary established to cater for fuel retailing, creating a sustainable and profitable business that integrates across the hydrocarbon value chain.
'The company is chartered with owning Saudi Aramco's fuel retailing, delivering Saudi Aramco brand positioning, innovating retail experience for fuel and associated non-fuel activities and creating an agile business unit that can adapt to retail market’s changing dynamics,' read a statement from the state-owned oil and gas company based in Dhamran, Saudi Arabia.
According to the press release, the announcement marks the commencement of a series of initiatives and transactions in RetailCo’s journey to become a full-fledged downstream retail entity of Saudi Aramco.
RetailCo's core business and operations will take a phased approach to expand its network of domestic fuel retail stations to cover the country, it said.
Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi, Saudi Aramco's senior vice president of the downstream business unit, said integrating fully across the hydrocarbon value chain was key to capturing maximum value from the company's resources.
'We are very excited with the establishment of RetailCo. It will leverage synergies in our business model and position us to actively participate in the customer-facing segment of the downstream value chain,' he said.
'By instituting a customer focus culture, combined with premium fuels and services, RetailCo will strive to exceed its customer’s expectations, thereby ensuring its business is sustainable for the long-term.
'This will uplift the sector standards and provide an enhanced customer experience that will add to 'Quality of Life' programs in line with Vision 2030,' he added.
Developed by the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic transformation program includes a number of goals and reform strategies for the kingdom’s long-term economic success, including reductions in subsidies, the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, opening Saudi Aramco to private investment through a partial IPO (Initial Public Offering), and reforms to several industries including tourism and defense.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr