Saudi Aramco looks to expand in US on Trump’s support of oil industry

Saudi Aramco owns the Port Arthur Texas refinery. Beaumont Enterprise photo by Guiseppe Barranco.

Saudi Aramco controls a refinery in Texas

According to a report by Reuters, Saudi Aramco, the giant oil and natural gas company owned by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is looking to expand its operations in the United States.

Amin H. Nasser, the company’s chief executive, said US President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and support for the industry are attractive to the company, which is valued somewhere between $2 trillion and $10 trillion.

“The Trump administration has been positive towards the energy industry. As long as what they are doing is in the interest of all and the U.S. economy is growing, we are happy. The whole oil industry is benefiting from the current administration,” Reuters reports Nasser on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Saudi Aramco is preparing to launch an IPO, which the company is hoping will be valued at $2 trillion, making it the world’s largest.  Aramco is considering listing its shares in New York, as well as a number of other possible exchanges.

“We are looking at new business opportunities in the U.S. and with the tax cuts it will make it much more profitable … It is part of our strategy to grow our business in the U.S.,” Amin Nasser told Reuters.

Currently, Aramco controls the Port Arthur refinery in Texas.  The facility that can process 600,000 barrels of oil per day is the largest refinery in North America.