Saudi Aramco buys 40% of Pakistan’s gas and oil company

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest and most profitable oil company, has acquired a 40% stake in Gas and Oil Pakistan Limited (GO), Pakistan’s leading fuel retailer.

This is Aramco’s first foray into Pakistan’s retail fuel market, allowing it to introduce its Valvoline brand of lubricants to the country.

Yasser Mufti, Aramco Executive Vice President of Products and Customers, and Khalid Riaz, Chief Executive Officer of Lahore-based Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd (GO), signed the agreement.

According to Subak, a website that covers energy news in the Middle East, the deal will enhance the cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in the petroleum and chemical sector, as well as provide Aramco with a new market for its products. Aramco had previously acquired the Valvoline brand from the American oil company Ashland in 2016.

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Mohammad bin Yahya Al-Qahtani, the head of refining and chemicals at Aramco, said that the acquisition was “another significant step in Aramco’s retail market expansion” and that it would “enable Aramco to access the retail market of Pakistan and offer its brand to consumers”.

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Group, is a state-owned company that was founded in 1933 by the Standard Oil Co. of California (Chevron) after it obtained a concession from the Saudi government.

It has the world’s second-largest proven crude oil reserves and the largest daily oil production. In 2019, it launched its initial public offering (IPO) on the Tadawul stock exchange, raising $29.4 billion and surpassing the $2 trillion market capitalization mark on the second day of trading.