S-OilÕs Onsan facility

Motiva Enterprises, a refining and marketing joint venture in the eastern and southern US, is now owned equally by Saudi Aramco subsidiary Saudi Refining Inc. (SRI) and Shell Oil Company.

Motiva was formed in 1998 by Saudi Refining, Texaco Inc. and Shell, and is the successor to Star Enterprise, a 50-50 joint venture between SRI and Texaco.

Motiva's assets include four refineries with a total capacity of 825,000 bpd, nearly 13,000 owned and operated service stations, and an extensive network of oil product terminals.

Last year, Saudi Refining signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire from Texaco an additional 17.2 per cent interest in Motiva, an acquisition which would increase Saudi Refining's share of the Motiva joint venture from 32.8 per cent to 50 per cent and bolster its marketing and refining strength in North America.

The memorandum also provides for the acquisition by Shell Oil of the remainder of Texaco's interest in Motiva, thus also bringing Shell's interest to 50 per cent.

The acquisition of a further interest in Motiva strengthens Saudi Refining's presence in the North American refining and marketing sector and solidifies Saudi Aramco's leading position as a supplier of crude oil to North America. Saudi Aramco supplies more than 1.5 million bpd of crude oil to customers in North America, including approximately 525,000 bpd of Arabian crude purchased by Motiva for processing in its refineries.

S-Oil Corporation

Saudi Aramco acquired a 35 per cent stake in South Korea's SsangYong Oil Refining Company Ltd (now S-Oil Corporation) in 1991. An oil refiner, S-Oil has diversified into lubricants and aromatics-orientated petrochemical products.

S-Oil owns and operates a refinery complex in Onsan with crude oil distillation capacity of more than 500,000 bpd. The company operates a nationwide distribution and marketing network which includes seven major product terminals and supplies more than 1,000 branded retail stations. S-Oil also markets petroleum products in Korea and exports to other regional markets.

S-Oil is looking to become a future-orientated petroleum company equipped with the best technology and facilities, to become a world leader in the lube base oil industry, to become a competitive petrochemical producer in the region and to establish a global management system.

Petron

Saudi Aramco, through an affiliate, acquired a 40 per cent interest in Petron under an agreement with the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) in 1994. PNOC owns 40 per cent of Petron's shares, with the public owning the rest.

Petron, formerly wholly-owned by PNOC, has a 180,000 bpd refinery and markets products through more than 1,000 retail outlets. A project to upgrade the refinery from 155,000 bpd was completed recently.

Motor Oil (Hellas)

An affiliate of Saudi Aramco owns a 50 per cent interest in Greece's Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries SA and its marketing affiliate Avinoil Industrial, Commercial and Maritime Oil Company SA under an agreement with the Vardinoyannis Industrial Group.

Motor Oil (Hellas) is Greece's largest privately held refining company. It operates a 100,000 bpd full-conversion refinery at Corinth, which is among the most sophisticated in Europe. The company supplies refined products to Avinoil, which markets them under the brand name Avin at some 520 outlets in Greece.

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