Aramco launches global hunt for LNG supplies

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco is looking for natural gas assets from Russia to East Africa and the United States as the state-owned energy giant hunts for ways to meet soaring domestic demand.

The comments by Khalid AlFalih, who’s both Aramco chairman and Saudi energy minister, are a tacit admission Aramco has failed to find enough domestic gas reserves despite years of exploration. He’s now considering imports of super-cooled liquefied natural gas (LNG) to bridge the gap with local consumption and cut the amount of crude oil burned in power stations instead of exported for a profit.

“Aramco is drawing a very wide net,” said Al-Falih, mentioning the Mediterranean and the Caspian Sea as other potential target for gas assets.

Saudi Arabia diverts tens of millions of barrels of crude every year into its electricity generation plants, particularly during the peak air-conditioning season in the summer. It doesn’t produce enough gas to supply its power stations.

Al-Falih wouldn’t rule out buying LNG from Russia, which this month opened a new plant in the Arctic, although he cautioned it wasn’t the most economical option at the moment.

Al-Falih also said Aramco had looked at potential to grow its footprint in the US through its subsidiary Motiva — the largest refinery in the country — possibly through investing in petrochemcial production.

“They are looking for potential integration there if it makes economic sense,” he said about Aramco’s plans in the US. Bloomberg