Saudi Refining Inc manages North American refining joint ventures

Saudi Aramco's global network of wholly-owned subsidiary companies cover a wide-range of services to support the company's extensive operations.

Based around the world, these subsidiaries provide material support, offer educational services, operate aircraft, buy and sell crude oil, establish marketing campaigns and even produce oil and gas.

Aramco Associated Company is based in Houston, US, and owns and operates US-based aircraft and provides fixed wing and rotary-wing aircraft to Saudi Aramco.

Also in Houston, the Aramco Training Services Company supports training, development and education programmes.

Saudi Refining Inc buys and sells crude oil, and manages North American joint venture partnerships and foreign oil inventory from its base in the US city.

Holland-based Aramco Overseas Company - with branch offices in Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea) and Hong Kong - provides materials support services and administers an International Exchange Visitor Programme.

Saudi Petroleum Ltd has offices in Beijing, Singapore and Tokyo, providing marketing support.

Headquartered in New York, Saudi Petroleum International Inc provides marketing and transport support services for North and South America and the Caribbean regions.

Also providing marketing support, as well as ocean transport support services, is Saudi Petroleum Overseas Ltd, which is based in London.

Aramco Gulf Operations Company Ltd is based in Khafji, Saudi Arabia and works on oil and gas operations in the formerly partitioned Neutral Zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Aramco Services Company (ASC), again based in Houston, wholly owns three independent subsidiary companies, with a minority interest in a fourth.

These include management of petroleum technology and engineering projects for various facilities to be constructed in Saudi Arabia; the recruitment of personnel from North America for Aramco's international operations and the procurement and shipment of materials to Saudi Aramco.

ACS recruits talented people for Saudi Aramco - people with superior skills and leading edge expertise to provide state-of-the-art technology to all operators.

Support is also provided from the Western Hemisphere by maintaining a well-trained, proficient Oil Spill Response Team, providing investment, banking, insurance and legal advice, maintaining contacts with the local news media and producing publications to enhance public awareness and understanding.

Purchasing/logistics

The Purchasing & Logistics department's goal is to provide Saudi Aramco and its affiliates with efficient purchasing, logistics and material-management services.

These services include, but are not limited to, purchasing, expediting and export shipping of materials in excess of $100 million annually to support Saudi Aramco's operations.

In addition, Purchasing & Logistics supports Saudi Aramco's Project Management Teams with logistic services, systems, procedures and training services as required.

Environmental Services Unit (ESU)

Established to provide leadership and expertise to ASC to respond to an oil spill emergency.

The primary customer is Vela International Marine, an associated company. In the event of an oil spill involving one of these vessels, it is ESU's job to respond.

ESU provides the knowledge and resources needed to effectively manage all aspects of response to an oil spill emergency.

To perform that task, ESU has organised and trained an Oil Spill Response Team (OSRT) composed of ASC employees who are trained in response strategies. ESU also ensures that outside resources essential to the response effort are identified, placed under contract and kept ready.

In conjunction with Saudi Aramco and Vela, ESU produces and maintains spill response plans and conducts regular exercises of those plans.

Public Affairs

Public Affairs' mission is to advance the business interests of ASC, providing people in North America and beyond with valuable information about Saudi Aramco and its affiliate subsidiaries.

This is increasingly important as Saudi Aramco expands its operations in all aspects of the oil industry.

Engineering Services

Engineering Services is made up of four teams. The Engineering Unit provides engineering support to North America-based Project Management Teams and to Saudi Aramco.

The Quality Systems Unit provides inspection support to Saudi Aramco's procurement and vendor inspection activities in North America and to PMTs.

A New Technology Team seeks out the best new science and engineering.

The Information and Image Services Unit operates the Corporate Information Centre, which provides the Drawing Management System and computer graphics support.

Together, these units make Aramco services a world-class leader in engineering and technology.

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