Saudi Arabia has for the first time opened up investment opportunity in its downstream petroleum sector to an international oil company.
This comes as Saudi Aramco and Total SA signed an agreement to form a 50-50 joint venture that will expand Saudi Arabia’s downstream petroleum industry.
As part of the agreement both parties will invest $1 billion to develop a network of fuel and retail services in Saudi Arabia, according to OGJ.
The companies also agreed to acquire Tas’helat Marketing Co. and Sahel Transport Co., owners of 270 service stations and a fuel tanker fleet.
With the deal, Total will be the first major International Oil Company (IOC) to invest in the Saudi arabia’s fuel retail network.